Cass County's sheriff signed an ICE 287(g) agreement without county board approval; the board later declared it void after the attorney general's opinion
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Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk signed a 287(g) Task Force Model agreement with ICE in February 2025. County Administrator Josh Stevenson told KAXE there had been no board action to approve it. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's December 12, 2025 opinion concluded that Minnesota law does not authorize sheriffs to enter 287(g) agreements and that a county may do so only through a county board resolution. At the board's January 20, 2026 meeting, after residents asked questions, the board and County Attorney Ben Lindstrom said the opinion made the agreement null and void and that the sheriff did not intend to enforce it; Stevenson said there was no plan to revisit it. As of January 28, 2026, ICE's website still listed Cass County as a participating agency.
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- KAXE (Northern Community Radio)
Sheriff Bryan Welk signed the 287(g) task force model agreement without county board approval
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