BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Bell County Sheriff's Office signed an agreement with ICE in July 2025 for the warrant officer program to comply with Texas Senate Bill 8 — and since then, the number of ICE detainees held at the county jail has dropped significantly.
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From August 2025 to May 2026, Bell County saw 34 ICE detainees. During the same period a year prior — August 2024 to May 2025 — the county saw 169 detainees.
Here's the breakdown before the agreement was signed:
August 2024: 20
September 2024: 31
October 2024: 31
November 2024: 18
December 2024: 26
January 2025: 19
February 2025: 10
March 2025: 6
April 2025: 3
May 2025: 5
Here is the breakdown after the agreement was signed in July 2025.
August 2025: 2
September 2025: 4
October 2025: 5
November 2025: 5
December 2025: 1
January 2026: 2
February 2026: 10
March 2026: 1
April 2026: 0
May 2026: 4
The warrant officer program allows inmates arrested for other law violations and found to be in violation of immigration status to be transferred into federal custody.
Sergeant Powell said his department has always operated under this model, even before the agreement was signed.
"So other than naming the title that the law required the warrant officer, the operation at the jail for Bell County has been the same," Powell said.
Under the program, the process begins after an arrest is made.
"A person being arrested on a violation of Texas law and then being brought to the facility and they meet certain criteria, then they have the ICE interview," Powell said.
Powell said the sharp decline in detainee numbers could be due to a range of factors.
"It would be speculation to know why those numbers have dropped, and I think there could be a lot of factors to it. I don't know that there's one factor, I don't, there, there's no rhyme or reason," Powell said.
Powell said his department does not ask about immigration status during calls, and that the process begins at the jail — not in the field.
"We don't want anybody to ever be fearful to report something to us if they're a victim of a crime," Powell said.
Powell said inmates at Bell County Jail come from his department and all agencies within the county. He also said ICE makes the determination of whether an inmate requires a detainer.
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