Benton County Quorum Court set to vote on dedicated account for ICE-related funds

BENTONVILLE , Ark. – The Benton County Quorum Court will vote Thursday on an ordinance creating a dedicated fund to track federal money tied to the county’s participation in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) 287(g) agreement. The proposed ordinance is scheduled for its third and final reading during the Quorum Court's meeting today, Sept. 24.

While Benton County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) already has a 287(g) agreement in place, the proposed ordinance would create a separate county account to receive and track federal money associated with the program, rather than the money going into the county's general fund.

During the Aug. 27 Quorum Court meeting, Justice of the Peace Dustin Todd, who sponsored the ordinance, said that separating the money would allow the county to track how much it receives and how it's spent.

The proposed ordinance has become a flashpoint because of BCSO's voluntary participation in the 287(g) agreement under the Task Force Model.

Arkansas law requires county sheriffs who operate jails to participate in at least the Warrant Service Officer model, unless they participate in the broader Jail Enforcement Model. Benton County has had a Jail Enforcement Model agreement since June 2020, meaning it was already meeting the state requirement before Sheriff Shawn Holloway added the optional Task Force Model in June 2026. State law did not require the county to take that additional step. Under policies announced by the Trump administration last year, agencies who sign onto the Task Force Model may be eligible for salary and benefit reimbursements.

Under the state-required Warrant Service Officer model, local officers can serve ICE immigration warrants on people who are already being held in the county jail. Under the Jail Enforcement Model, local officers can identify and process people for possible deportation after they have been arrested and booked into a local jail, whether or not they have an ICE warrant.

Under the optional Task Force Model, that authority extends beyond the jail and into regular police work in the community. Participating deputies can question people about their immigration status, check federal immigration databases, and detain people for ICE during traffic stops and other routine encounters.

BCSO's expansion to the Task Force Model has raised concerns because it moves immigration enforcement outside the jail and into everyday interactions between residents and local police.

Silvia Vallejo is a Benton County resident and disabled Air Force veteran who has been organizing people in opposition to the county's participation in the Task Force Model. She told GRITA that she opposes voting in favor of the dedicated fund while the Task Force Model remains in place.

Vallejo said her concern is not simply that Benton County cooperates with ICE, but that Sheriff Shawn Holloway expanded the county's involvement without first bringing the decision before the public. GRITA asked the Benton County Sheriff’s Office why it chose to add the Task Force Model, how many deputies are participating and whether Sheriff Shawn Holloway had a response to residents calling for the county to scale back its 287(g) participation, but did not receive a response by time of publication.

In July, BCSO chief deputy Meyer Gilbert told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that it was a decision made by the department. "We feel that we owe it to our citizens to fully cooperate with federal authorities and federal law—as any other law—and we'll continue to do so," he said.

Vallejo said the county should hold off on creating a dedicated ICE fund until Holloway explains why he expanded the Sheriff's Office into the Task Force Model without input from the community.

“They escalated this without a town hall, without bringing the reasoning, the data or the justification to the people,” Vallejo said. “They should hold off on creating this fund until the Sheriff's Office goes back to the basic level of cooperation required by the state."

In a September 2025 press release that has since been removed from its website, DHS said that agencies participating in the Task Force Model may receive salary and benefit reimbursements for eligible officers, plus quarterly performance awards of up to $1,000 per officer. Those awards are based on the “successful location” of people identified by ICE and the agency’s overall assistance in furthering ICE’s mission.

The proposed fund has also drawn opposition from local advocacy groups. In an open letter to the Quorum Court, White Men for Racial Justice urged the body to reject the fund.

“Benton County should not participate in any activity that creates a financial incentive for local law enforcement to detain and disrupt the lives of our law-abiding neighbors," the group wrote in the letter.

Vallejo also said the fund creates a financial incentive for local deputies to participate in immigration enforcement.

“It’s blood money. You’re attacking your own community,” Vallejo said.

Vallejo added that if the court votes in favor of the ordinance, that advocacy groups across Northwest Arkansas will begin an economic and community boycott of Benton County. She said supporters would avoid city and county events where BCSO deputies are present.

That position was also laid out in an Aug. 27 letter signed by the de-ICE Benton County Community Coalition, the Ozarks Socialist Party, of which Vallejo is a member, and Northwest Arkansas Democratic Socialists of America.

“We have been left with no other choice in this matter than to encourage the complete community repudiation of the Sheriff’s Office and Benton County, by declaring a complete community and economic boycott of your offices,” the groups wrote.

The Quorum Court will meet at 6 p.m. tonight, Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Benton County Administration building on 215 E. Central Ave in downtown Bentonville. Meeting Info