Washington County cites immigration law to deny ICE records

Two public records requests submitted by the Johnson City Press asking for records on a Washington County Sheriff's Office immigration enforcement program were denied by the Washington County Attorney's Office. The denial cited a recent state statute that protects immigration enforcement officers and future operations. The Johnson City Press submitted the request on April 16. A response was received on May 29 citing the denial of the request in which the office stated Tennessee code annotated 4-42-105 — Public Chapter No. 686 — "prohibits the disclosure of the requested records." This new state law was passed during the 114th General Assembly and went into effect on April 13. The law protects the following with some exclusions to court orders: "The name of a federal, state or local officer, agent or official participating in federal immigration enforcement activities in this state when the name is accompanied by contact information, a residential address or other personal identifying information of the officer, agent or official" "Information related to specific future immigration enforcement operation activities, such as the date and time, location, logistics or strategies of such activities" The requests submitted by the Johnson City Press asked for the following records: "All documents and records maintained by the WCSO related to individuals who have been subject to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — ICE — holds, detains, transfers under the 287(g) program" "All documents, including records, maintained by the WCSO related to financial expenditures, compensation and funding associated with the participation in the 287(g) program" The WCSO established its 287(g) program with the Department of Homeland Security, or ICE, on Nov. 5, 2025, through an agreement approved by the full commission and Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy. The warrant service officer model of the program "authorizes the Secretary of DHS to enter into written agreements with a state or any political subdivision of a state so that qualified personnel can perform certain functions of an immigration officer." The WCSO has trained its deputies to be able to conduct immigration enforcement within its jurisdiction. Since December 2025, WCSO has made 44 ICE holds on individuals and released 32 into ICE custody. "One of the concerns about sheriff's offices participating in the 287(g) programs or other programs with ICE has been, how much will it cost local taxpayers," Tennessee Coalition of Open Government Executive Director Deborah Fisher said. "And the answer to that question, we can't know if we don't know how much the sheriff's departments are being reimbursed." Under the Tennessee Public Records Act, Johnson City Press requested a written response detailing the reason for the denial but did not receive the response by press time. Washington County Attorney Allyson Wilkinson explained in an email statement what prohibits inspection of public records. "In response to requests made by Tennessee citizens under the Tennessee Public Records Act, Washington County makes available for inspection those public records that are not prohibited from disclosure by Tennessee law, common law, court rules, or federal law," she said. Fisher said she does not believe the passing of the law was to protect the records requested by the Johnson City Press. "I believe that the Washington County attorney is misunderstanding that statute," she said. "That bill had nothing to do with how much the sheriff's office was receiving from the federal government to do this work, to temporarily house detainees and it did not have anything to do with keeping the names of those who were detained confidential." Under state law, any "information made confidential by state law shall be redacted whenever possible, and the redacted record shall be made available for inspection and copying." The Johnson City Press submitted an inquiry to the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's Open Record Counsel and received a response stating, "it seems a governmental entity would likely be able to redact confidential information from the records you requested," Assistant General Counsel Elizabeth McCabe said in an email statement. State Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, and state House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, both sponsored the bill. Johnson sponsored the bill through the Senate and Sexton sponsored the bill through the House. "The intent behind SB 1464 is to protect personal information of officers and sensitive enforcement operations," Johnson said in an email statement. Sexton said in an email statement the bill "is about protecting the men and women on the front lines of law enforcement. We cannot allow sensitive operational details or personal information to be weaponized against those enforcing the law." The Johnson City Press did reach out to Rep. Rebecca Alexander, R-Jonesborough, who was a co-sponsor for the bill, but did not hear back by press time. "I just think it's very clear, the statutory language is very clear," Fisher said. "And even when it talks about future operation activities, it's clear that they're talking about enforcement activities, not detention activities."