Council - Regular Meeting

February 9th, 2026, Town of Pine Bluffs Council meeting. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The first item on the agenda is the agenda approval. I move to approve the agenda. I'll second it. Hearing a movement to approve the agenda and a second. All those in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries. The next item on the agenda is the oath of office for council member Amy Curry. Welcome to the council, Amy. Thank you. If you will come over here. this before.

If you'll raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Amy Curry, I, Amy Curry, do you solemnly swear Do you solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution and Laws of the State of Wyoming, the Constitution and Laws of the State of Wyoming and all local ordinances and all local ordinances. that I have not knowingly violated any law related to my appointment. that I have not knowingly violated any law related to my appointment or caused it to be done by others or caused it to be done by others

and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity and I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity. Congratulations. The next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. I move to approve the consent agenda. Sorry. I'll second. I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda and a second. All those in favor?

I opposed. Hearing none. Motion carries. The new business action items. Number one is review and approve memorandum for agreement 287G task force Pineluff's Police Department.

Yes, Alex. Yeah. Point point of order on this. Um, I have reviewed this and um, you know how the feds are about stuff. Yeah.

So, I took a close look. Uh, there's a provision in here that restricts dissemination of information about this agreement uh, without coordinating with them first and getting permission. So, I don't know to what extent we're going to be getting into the substance of the agreement, but we probably have to adjourn to an executive session. So, I don't know if you want to leave that till the end of the meeting or how you would want to work that, but I would recommend that we do that. And we actually have a an exception in the open meeting laws that permits us to do that. Do we want to recess into executive session?

I personally would rather table this until we've had more time to um I guess hear from Austin. Um kind of the goals. I do feel this was kind of thrust upon us Friday without any preparation. I feel like I've been scrambling to figure out exactly what we're getting into. Alex, I I feel like there's probably some questions from the public about this and I think that Austin could probably shed some light on the agreement. To what degree can we you know discuss what public the concerns that might there might be and and you know what we see that agreement what it actually means for the town.

That's a really hard question. I know, but I don't know how we proceed without addressing that. If we're going to be if we're going to be transparent, I think I think that would be necessary to do that.

Um, I guess we'd probably have to talk to the other party to the agreement and see how they feel about that. Tell them we can't move forward till we get an answer or something. Yeah, I I just feel like there's there's been enough concerns raised that we owe it to our constituents to be able to discuss this in an open meeting. I I don't know. I guess you just have to ask them. I mean,

I don't I don't think it would be appropriate to to uh you know to go forward with it without being considerate of that provision. Sure.

Um I agree with Alex. There's some things uh in theou that we cannot um that I just cannot discuss. Um a lot of those things I don't think would come up anyway. Um, but that's more of the logistics and who we're talking to and stuff like that. That's stuff that I'm not recruited to talk about anyway because you know how the feds are. Um, most of the questions I've answered for most everyone is uh I'm allowed to to talk about. That's not procluded um or excluded from from discussion. A lot of it's just the internal workings of of what goes on because, you know, you don't want uh anything uh sabotaged or uh any crazy outside source getting a hold of government source intel. So, that's stuff I cannot discuss, but uh nor would I. That's that's part of that. Um but uh the powers that be with uh HSI is willing to have sitdown talks. um even uh town halls if need be. So there's nothing secret um or uh uh secretive about the 287g program. Uh just that some of the source intel and and how we how we get the intel and where we get it from I cannot disclose nor should I. But that's to the extent of what the program does for the town of Pine Bluffs and uh the benefits we would receive. That's that's stuff I can talk about.

In your opinion, does entering into this agreement affect the way you conduct law enforcement in the town of Pine Bluffs?

Absolutely not. If anything, it streamlines it for the town officer. Um, a lot of times during these situations that unfortunately local law enforcement's put in, um, we are waiting for quite a long time to receive an answer uh, from our federal partners. This streamlines the process and allows us to essentially do it ourselves. Um, cutting out the middleman, if you will. um and making the situation a lot quicker for us, any detainee or um any uh situation that we're put in. Also, in your opinion, does this put anyone in jeopardy that that isn't currently in jeopardy?

No. No. This contract is not um and it precludes us from doing anything like raids or anything like that. This is just normal day in day out um traffic stops. Uh you're there for criminal violation, something like that. No, no raids, um no sweeps, no nothing, whatever you want to call them. Uh the local law enforcement's not involved. That's this 287G is not that. that's done by the federal government and that we had no part in that. You guys have any questions?

I I mean I don't know what I could ask. Um I I I feel like you can ask his opinion. Right. Right. I don't know that that is going to satisfy the curiosity of others. Um I for that reason I I feel like we may have a hard time moving forward tonight. Anyway,

mayor, I have a question. Uh, we do have some members of the public that are that are probably here to ask questions about that. Is it appropriate for us to at least let them ask their questions and if we can answer them, we will. If we can't answer them, then or if we have to wait until we get permission to answer them, then we could get back with them at a later date. But they've already taken time out of their evening to join us here. So absolutely it would be great if we could at least find out what their questions are. I agree. That would be fully appropriate.

So go ahead. Approach the the podium. Announce your name and where you're from. Dave Hendricks. I'm from about four or five blocks. So you're a resident of the town. You're a resident of the town blocks. Okay. Um, and my question would actually be for Chief Smith. Okay.

Um, so this deal, this what we're talking about here. So, are these people um if you wouldn't be involved, you know, as far as you say arresting for the federal government, ICE, whatever you want to call it, do you if you knowingly know of somebody that may not be legal, does that warrant you to go get them? No. Only if they have infractions with the law. Only only if they have contact with us during their normal course of business. criminal contact. Criminal contact or it could be traffic. Everything's a everything's a misdemeanor in the state of Wyoming. So, yeah. But yeah, so even getting pulled over.

If they're pulled over, usually there's some sort of violation of driver's license or something like that where to come up. Yes. Okay. Because we know that there is a lot of people here that may not paperwork, but they're good citizens. and they have no they have no no businesses of ours to be in their business. So that's that this program does not do that.

And the only reason I question is because I'm an old man. In my younger days, a lot of the ranchers around here built their empires, their where they're at now off the backs of immigrants. And so that concerns me just so if that's the case that's that's all I need to know. Austin, I have another question.

Yes, sir. If in the event that there are citizens of Pine Bluffs that may or may not be here legally, is there anything that the town can do or that we can do to help them get their status to where to where in the event they were pulled over for a traffic violation or something that that it wouldn't put them on the radar to to be deported by ICE order.

Um there are I don't I'm not I don't know the ins and outs of all that because that that's beyond the scope of this program. Um but I I personally just from personal knowledge I do know there's programs out there uh they call them U visas and different uh programs like that that the federal government has in order to um get yourself on that legal pathway. So, there are there are ways to do it. If you have no criminal violation and you've been going about business the correct way, you're just maybe out of uh um out of scope or haven't reported or whatnot or maybe forgot to report, there are ways to get you back on that legal um status just like they've done since 1996.

I was hoping that you'd have at least some information on that. I I contacted an immigration attorney today and asked them if there was pathways that we could that we could help people to get to where they could get a green card, basically get legal enough to where if something did occur that they would be fine. I I do know that American citizens can sponsor um people as well, you know, whether for work or uh their own business. Uh so there are different ways like that. I'm I don't know the ins and outs of that, so I apologize. Well, I'm going to pursue that personally. And if there's individuals that we know of that that we can help, I' I'd like to get it out there that I'm willing to personally pay some of their legal fees or whatever it takes to help people that are that are currently here that even if they don't know for sure, I'd like to be able to put them in contact with an attorney that could possibly help them.

Absolutely. So, if you hear of anybody or any anybody in the audience knows of anyone that needs help, please have them contact me and I'll see if I can do something to to help them get themselves out of jeopardy. Any other questions?

Hi, I'm Clint Jessen. I'm an immigrant. Um, I think I have the biggest question and maybe I'm gonna bounce off of exactly what you said. We all know somebody. Everybody in this room knows somebody. They're good citizens. And my question is, are we willing to violate their Fourth Amendment's rights? At what level is a traffic stop because they're brown going to result in their deportation? Especially when it comes to the school to small community. I don't know where all the stop signs are either. Like at what level and level of aggression is this going to get to?

So I can answer that. Uh I'm sorry you're okay. So again, uh the contacts are during the normal scope of our business. We're not going to be targeting anyone the color of their skin. Part of this 287G uh program requires us federally to go through anti-discrimination training. Um we also do that just in general for our agency as well. So, um this would be um just more training on top of that. Um not everyone we contact leaves. Um just just for stats wise um Larry County Sheriff's Office since entered into this agreement um have out of 200 some it was an estimation out of 200 some contacts only 120 um have have been deported. Um a good majority of those um are what they consider highly criminal. So, uh, rape, DUI, felony level, uh, violations. Um, the other part of that, um, again, I can't really get into the source intel, but over visa overstays, things like that that, um, if you stop communicating with the federal government, probably, as you know, they tend to get on your radar. So, um those things that if if we have contact and they're up to snuff, everything goes fine. Nothing happens. Um but if if your information is not up to snuff and um you stop communicating with the federal government, doesn't matter if I'm in Canada, if I go fishing and I overstay my welcome there, I'm facing two years in prison as an American citizen and deportation back to the United States. Every country has

this. So it doesn't matter where you're from or where you're going. There's a legal way to do things. And if you got to keep it current, a lot of times they're signed up for the U visas. I can't I'm going to misspeak about what the visa is called, but um where you sign up uh with the federal government again to re start your re-reporting. Um and every district has a field office. our field office for the town of Pine Bluffs or the Clarammy County is in Denver. It can get confusing because if you go 15 minutes to uh Kimble, Nebraska, their field office is in Omaha, Nebraska. So, it can get convoluted for sometimes. I think that's what really needs addressed with some of the immigration law personally in my opinion is that if you're from Kimell, Nebraska and you live there, you should be able to report to Colorado, not not 7 hours away and in Omaha. So, um, but anyway, to to get to your question, not everyone that's getting contacted, um, will even run through that process that I unfortunately can't really get into, but, um, it's a lot of check boxes and and screening to see if they're even wanted. So,

um, I don't have a question. I have a letter written by Please, please announce your name. Hi, my name is Ashley Jessen and um Are you a resident of the town of Pine Bluffs? I am. I live outside of Pine Bluffs, but I am a business owner and I own several properties in Pineluff. Okay. So, um I guess I could My kids go to school in Pine. My address says Pine, so yeah.

Um so I have a letter written by a student at Pine Bluffs High School that I wanted to share with everyone. Um and she trusted me to read this for her. Um dear Pineluffs town council members, I'm a student here in Pineluff, Wyoming. I go to school with a lot of kids whose families come from different places. I'm writing this letter because I'm really worried about the 287G agreement that lets our local sheriff deputies work with ICE on immigration. Even now in Larmy County, which includes us in Pine Bluffs, the sheriff's office signed on to this in 2025 and some deputies got sworn in to work with ICE. Even the Wyoming Highway Patrol is doing it now. We already have law officers doing that. Why do we need more? Going to get groceries at Walmart in Cheyenne is now a challenge for my family. And now that agreement will make it a challenge to support local businesses as well. I'm a student who does sports and maintains good grades. Passing this agreement invokes fear amongst me and my family. As a teenager who wants to live a normal life, that's a very hard thing to do. Getting to places such as practices is getting more and more difficult. My parents won't be able to come and support me and my brothers at our games. Who knows? They might be taking a risk coming to my graduation. And as a kid, that's something we should never fear. What if one day I come home from school and my parents are nowhere to be found? They were taken and are at risk of deportation for a minor traffic violation, like stopping at a stop sign for 3 seconds instead of five, or even an accident that's not their fault. We aren't criminals. We came here with a dream, and that is to have a better future for our family. We pay taxes, haven't had a record of any kind, and don't misinterpret this as we're asking for something. But just for you to realize what we do, I'm someone that wants to go to college, but even that thought is a hard is hard. I can't take out student loans. I don't have the same access to scholarships, which means that it would have to come out of pocket. And we're talking about $30,000. A big misconception that people have is

that immigrants have access to health insurance. Let me clarify something. No, we do not. We're prohibited from getting sick because everything comes out of pocket. Having kids, paying out of pocket, can't buy a house or cars because we don't have those nine numbers. I want to make Pineluff safe, but this, I believe, is not the way to do it. This fear is spreading everywhere, and it's scarier for families who just want to live peacefully. We live in a small town where we look at out for each other. We love living here. We're the kind of people who don't hesitate when someone needs help. I really think the town council should think about passing a resolution saying you're against this 287g program in Pine Bluffs. We could support keeping trust strong and making sure everyone feels safe. Thank you so much for listening to my letter. And then I also have something that I would like to say or share. Um so thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. Um, I'm speaking as not just a concerned resident, but as a business owner and employer in Pine Bluffs, a parent of children who attend Pine Bluffs High School, and someone who does my best to give back to this community in whatever way I can. I'm here here to urge you to oppose any cooperation between the Pine Bluffs Police Department and ICE through the 287G program. I believe many of you are people of faith, and I want to speak to the values that faith calls you to uphold. There is nothing Christlike about what ICE is doing in our communities. There is nothing holy about terrorizing families, kidnapping children, and ripping parents away from their sons and daughters. Fear and cruelty are not Christian values. Compassion, mercy, dignity, and love of neighbor are. Pine Bluffs is a small, close-knit town with very ser little serious crime. That is something to be proud of. We do not have a crime problem that justifies turning our local police into immigration enforcement officers. What we do have is a community built on trust. Trust between neighbors and trust between residents and law enforcement. Programs like 287G destroy that trust.

It's also important to be honest about the facts. Overstaying a visa is a civil offense, not a criminal one. People who have overstayed visas are not criminals. Yet, programs like 287G treat them as such. In practice, this leads to racial profiling. people being stopped, questioned, and detained not because of criminal behavior, but because of how they look, how they speak, or what someone is where someone assumes they are from. This raises serious concerns about constitutional rights. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures. When local police are encouraged to act as immigration agents, those protections are weakened and entire communities are subjected to suspicion rather than service. Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without exception. Children deserve to attend school without fear that their parents may not be there when they return home. As a parent, that fear is unacceptable to me. Parents deserve to trust that calling the police for help will not put their family at risk. When local law enforcement partners with ICE, people stop recording crimes. Victims go silent and our community becomes less safe, not more. If the concern is criminals, then we need to be honest about that reality. That is not who I is primarily targeting. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Policing trucks along belongs with highway patrol. The Pine Buffs Police Department should be focused on serving and protecting the people who live here. Pine Bluffs should be a place where law enforcement officers are seen as protectors, not threats. A place where families feel secure, a place where our shared values and our constitutional principles are reflected, not just in words, but in actions. I urge you to reject participation in the 287G program and to stand for safety, dignity, and humanity for everyone who calls Pineluffs home. And I want to be clear, I will continue to be a voice for the voiceless and will use my privilege to speak loudly and consistently against injustice. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Thank you. in in addressing that she asserted that that it's turning the Pinel Police Department into ICE agents. Is is that what this does?

I want to make that really really clear. This 287G program A was formed in 1996, revamped in 2002 after 911. This does not make us ICE agents. This gives us the tools during the regular course of business instead of contacting an ICE agent, which we would normally do anyway per federal law. We're not a sanctuary state. We are not a sanctuary town. You see that in sanctuary cities and sanctuary towns. The federal government doesn't fight them about it. We're not one. We have had I think seven contacts in the last year where we made contact. Um Officer Miller can attest we had eight people in a in a big excursion on their way to Las Vegas, contacted ICE. one was wanted uh in his home country in South America for rape and they they didn't do anything and just said let him go which is fine is what it is. Not everyone leaves. Not everyone goes even for something as bad as that. Um, a lot of that again has to do with source intel and what they knew of him and all that stuff which I can't talk about but um, you know, we've had contacts in the for the town of Pine Bluffs again seven of them within the last year where um, three of them one was a DUI, one was a fought with officer Miller and went to jail for obstruction and can't remember what the third one is. So we've had contact where they have um fall fell under the ice preview and we've had some contacts where they were uh released if you will. Um, but that's something that I want to make perfectly clear that most law enforcement across the state of Wyoming, I can speak to Nebraska as well,

uh, when we have contact with someone who's not here legally and they have not gone through the legal process of doing so, um, they're going to get called in and and the the question is going to be raised to to us whether they want that person or not. The only difference this program allows us to do is to have that federal platform with our computers be able to look that up. Again, I can't talk to how that works because that's, you know, revealing source info that we can't talk about, but there's a process, the way we go about that and to to see whether or not they're even wanted or not to to to be deported. Um, I I agree with the mayor. I urge anyone that if they are worried about their immigration status to report and and uh ask to get that paperwork going. There are ways to stay here legally. Not everyone's leaving uh no matter no matter what's being portrayed in the media. That's not happening. And I've seen it with my own two eyes. Like I said, we've had multiple contacts where we where we have been told either, "Yep, they're good to go." or no, they're not. And those contacts usually was because we were taking them to jail anyway uh for state of Wyoming violations. Um the the the one you read, not your statement, but the the student statement. Um we're not going into schools. This contract, this two 287g program does not allow us to go on any raids with ICE agents. We're not turning into ICE agents. We're not going any raids. We're not going to anybody's houses to arrest them. We're not going into schools, churches. That's an ICE policy anyway. They're not going into churches. They're not going into schools um short of contacting kids. Um but that's not for deportation issues. That's for other reasons. But we are not

doing that. This program, this 287g program does not pro preclude us from, you know, just because we're now signed up means we can go do this. No. And it's actually our policy. It's the sheriff's office policy as well. They're not going to any raids. They're not doing that either. So, we're not suiting up and getting in line with them and busting down a door. They have owned their own specialized teams for that exact reason. Uh I think the only person they did, they've had 12 events where they stood on perimeter security um arresting one was a wanted cop killer from Mexico that lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming. So, there's some bad dudes they're going after as well. I I think everyone agrees that it's not um it's not a perfect system and immigration never is and it never will be. Since 1996, doesn't matter who's been president, it's always been there's always been it could be done a better way. And I think that's what we need to get to is uh finding some little bit of better way to streamline the process now that we're in a more digital age because I think that has not cut up with where we at today in America. But again, that's just my opinion. So

ask one quick question. Sure. Everybody still knows who I am, right? So if if we do this program, you're obligated. You pull somebody over and they don't have the proper documentation. They've lived here for decades. Upstanding citizen. They haven't hurt anybody. you're obligated by the federal government now to report this. And the whole thing about, you know, they're good people and all this stuff they get passed, we both know that's not always true. No.

And all of us, I think somebody mentioned before, know somebody like that, even if we don't realize it, we know somebody. And that's what she was talking about. When the parents disappear, they can get pulled over randomly. And because now we're working with the federal government, you're obligated to report it and they could be transferred even if it's only for a couple weeks and you've got kids here.

That's that's what streams like this streams because it wouldn't be a couple weeks if they're trans. It's if they're transported to Larman County detention, um, ICE is going to to deport them. That's that if it gets to that point, they they've they've checked enough boxes to where they're they're going to go. But I guess what I'm asking, it's an obligation at that point. Once you redo this agreement with the federal government, you have an obligation. pull somebody over and they don't have the proper documentation, you have to follow all the steps to Sure. Yeah. By by federal, not necessarily statute, but Yeah. No, no, thank you.

Um, you you we're always going to partner with our federal partners, whether it be the FBI or HSI, which is under the purview of ICE. Maybe there's been different.

So, yeah. No, of course there's been there's been plenty of uh scenarios at two in the morning that we have, you know, not called something in because are we going to we're going to call someone at 2 in the morning to wake them up out of bed and and ask these questions? The answer is no. I've done it before. So, not not every time. But this 287g program does um does streamline the process and gives us the purview to be able to look some of that up and instead of making some of those that then takes the time of um other other resources that could be used in other ways. So, Chief, you you had said I think you said it a couple times now, but essentially if you have an interaction, say a traffic stop with somebody who has issues with their immigration paperwork, whether we sign an M OA or not, ultimately the same thing is going to happen. Your response is still the same.

Yes. So that's it may take a little longer, but right the the response is no different. Right. Okay. Thank you.

Does anybody else have any questions?

You had mentioned a town hall. Is that something we want to consider doing a town hall and letting the citizens come like they have I know there's a lot of questions and a lot of concerns out there. It's something I'm willing to do and it's something that um HSI heads in Cheyenne and Denver are willing to provide uh the citizens of Larry County and whole but especially here in Pine Bluffs. I would be very much for that before any decision is made and then maybe we can also get an answer from Alex regarding what we can talk about and what we can't in the interimm just for

yeah that's not my call I think well I know but reaching out to see if there what level they could highlight the document whereas no touchy versus this is okay. I I I do know that public publishing theou is not allowed. You can't talk about the specifics of that. Yeah, but you mentioned earlier that you could reach out to ask them what we could discuss if anything. I think we're discussing basically what I can discuss. It's just some concerns and what what what we're allowed to do and what we're not allowed to do. the specifics of that I'm not allowed to discuss how that works because again

I really wouldn't discuss how the Pine Bluffs Police Department operates in a general sense just because that could complant and what we do to do execute that is really nothing that we talk about in the general sense of law enforcement because it could hinder future law enforcement you know search warrants. So, uh, same same thing applies to these contracts. Yes.

Yeah. I I guess where I'm coming from on this is, um, I don't think we want to make a misstep either way. So, um, we've heard from some of the citizens here and, uh, you know, that's what the governing body does is listen to what they have to say and make informed decisions. At the same time, however, u I would caution the governing body who now is in possession of this agreement that you should not reproduce or share this agreement outside of the body because there's specific language in there that asks us not to do that and uh and we need to, you know, do it by the book. Now, that's going to involve probably contacting whoever the Laramie County representative is for Homeland Security or something like that to see how they handle that. I don't know how they handle it. I haven't talked to them. And I don't know if you've put that question to anybody or not. I mean, I think you've done a good job of kind of skirting the nuts and bolts of it. I just don't want to see anybody, you know, get on the on the chopping block because we we aren't careful. It's better to be cautious, figure it out ahead of time, and then deal with it, than it would be to just guess at it because I don't know, not without asking.

And I guess that's what I was asking if we could get some more parameters of whether or not we can disseminate theou or I guess of whether or not we can disseminate theou or well that and you know how much detail uh from it should be generally available to the public. So yes that's that's what I was trying to get at. Yeah, you I I would you know just take the position at this point that consider this stuff confidential for now.

Do you know when the county entered into the agreement? Last year. I don't I don't know the date. So So our whole county has been under the whole state the the Wyoming Highway Patrol signed it in 2025 as well. So we've been under this Yeah.

under the authority of this for some time already. This has been yeah this has been happening in Laram County for quite some time and like I said there's a few stats that Larry County allowed me to share um but again uh without getting into the whole nuts and bolts of of that um they wanted to highlight that there some bad dudes in Laramie County that have been arrested. So it's it's it's the really the again the only thing that this does for local law enforcement is it gives us the purview of being able to during the course of of our contacts with them um allows them to look up to see what they're wanted for in general. Anyway, this is not only a safety issue. Um, we've if if I wasn't there with Matt, it was just Matt and those the six people we had about a year ago um and that one of them knew that there wanted it could have turned bad had more of us not showed up. Uh so it's a safety thing as well. The sooner we know information like that um the better and we shouldn't be waiting on the phone as a law enforcement officer. We shouldn't have to wait on the phone for the federal government to get back and go, "Oh, yeah, that guy's guy has this or that on his record." Well, be careful, but we don't want him. Or, "Yeah, we do want him." And please put him in handcuffs. Um, this this doesn't this doesn't mean I'm looking up and typing warrants and typing deportation orders. We're not allowed to do that. So, some of the reporting out there, no, you know, this doesn't make us ICE agents. This gives us the purview to look at ISIS system. That's it. It does not give us the purview to write detain orders, uh, deport anyone, anything like that. Um, we're not going

to be stopping people on the street and asking for their documentation or or looking them up. Um, that's that's not allowed. That's not allowed in Winter County's policy. That's not allowed in my policy if passed. that's not allowed in Wyoming higher patrols policy. So there are levels to this that um you know that has been tried and true already for the last year since uh since since it's been happening in Larry County. So in your opinion, do you think that by entering into the agreement it makes us more or less likely to have ICE coming into town and and scrutinizing what we're doing? less likely uh if if if we're able to um you know have those contacts and and uh fill out paperwork and stuff like that, they're uh you know less likely to be going out in the public furview and and beating down doors, if you will. Um and I would say a lot of the contacts they've had um actually occurred in the jail during during a lawful arrest. Um they've done some commercial motor vehicle traffic. Um but I again just in my opinion if you're driving a um a very heavyweight commercial motor vehicle um you should have all your documentation in a row to include a valid CDL in a general. And so a lot of those uh they've actually have 25 CMV arrests uh where the documentation was

fake and not not legal. So um I think that's important to get some of those people off the off our roads in throughout the United States, not just Wyoming. So go ahead. Sorry, just one point of reference and then one quick question. Um most of U is on the home uh ICE website. Yes.

So like it's it's not secretive. Maybe the specific details of this particular agreement are but the majority of it's on public on the website. And then that was just my point. Uh the question I have is is there financial incentives for the town or for you personally uh for a number of captures? So um there is uh going back to when the federal government started the 287g they cannot for not force that they cannot enter an agreement uh with any local um entity without paying them. Uh that's slave labor. Um but so it's good dating back from to 1996 to present day that number has fluctuated. It's been as low as a thousand bucks to as high as it is now, which is uh almost 7500 per quarter. Um and that is not per arrest though. That is strictly for just being the program and being a participant in the program. Um and they just they recently um made uh I think this March for a vehicle statement as well. So it allows agencies to go out and purchase new vehicle, new equipment um to be a part of this program. So the answer is no, it's not per arrest. Uh that's widely circulated and that is not true. It is it is per quarter that they pay uh the entity whether you know right now Larry County and um have patrol in the course of our business all those seven contacts we've called called it in like you should do federal law stipulates anyway are you required to do that not necessarily there's like I said sanctuary state sanctuary towns that don't cooperate with federal partners we will um but when we make that call and we give it to

the sheriff's office or highway patrol, that process is going to go. The wheel is is going to turn no matter what anyway. Um, so we might as well benefit financially from it. Especially in a time where, you know, everyone's worried about taxes and six penny money and stuff like that. We have to think about ways we can apply for grants. And this is nothing but that. This is just a grant. It's a grant from the federal government to assist them in their in their paperwork because Again, this doesn't allow me to sign orders or do anything, you know. Um, this this just allows me to be able to facilitate a 1 hour, 2 hour, 5 hour process like we've had once before, especially if we have multiple detainees down to a 15 minute, 20-m minute process. And and streams line it for us, it streams line it for a detaine. You know, we could be wasting a lot of time if they say, "Yeah, just release." Now, we wasted hours of their time and a day when we could make this a lot quicker. And that's really all it does. That's that's all this program does is allow us to go through those procedures in a smooth manner than having to jump phone call to phone call to phone call and have to just have to get to to point one anyway. The second the second half of that is it does allow us to facil facilitate transportation from wherever we're at to the L County Jail where they have uh beds for that purpose. So um that that we're not signing warrants and booking them in for that. We then hand it off to the ICE, you know, the Larry County um ICE agent that's that's stationed there anyway and we leave. So again, we're not any of that paperwork. We're not signing any of that. And again, we're already cooperating with our federal partners

anyway, whether it be whatever federal agency you can think of. Um, so that wheel is going to turn no matter what in this county anyway. Um, so yes, there is a financial benefit, but it's not for arrest. We're we're not if you go get that guy, you're you get a thousand bucks. I don't benefit from just from the police department or the, you know, per officer? No. Um there is a per officer quarter that that that have signed up, but that's not per arrest. So it's just per officer that signed up to participate in the program. Um there's that $7,500 per quarter and that that's for to facilitate internet or whatever we use, equipment that we might need to upgrade, things like that.

Thank you. Yes. So Chief Smith, just to be clear, Does the compensation change any whether you make one arrest or a thousand? No. No. So there is no there is no numbersbased compensation involved in this? No. Okay. Go ahead. The one on the internet's missing the three pages specific to Wyoming and that's the one I'm concerned about. Okay. Yeah. I just wanted to let you know. Yeah, like I said, it wasn't specifically for Pine Bluffs. It was just there's the general template is on the home. Yeah, the boiler plates on there.

Some some of the some of this the three pages that are missing go into logistics that um I think everyone agree would would be counterproductive to any federal operation or state operation for that matter. I think I've exhausted all of my questions. Anybody else? Um, Austin, I talked with you earlier on the phone. Um, by the way, thank you again for that. Um, I'd asked if we didn't uh enter into this agreement if there'd be any repercussions. Um,

and you just kind of suggested that if we didn't enter in, ICE would probably be more present. Uh, so maybe just clarify. No, I mean, yeah, thank you for that. I probably should reclarify that.

Um, no, absolutely not. Um, if if we didn't participate, it's going to be business as usual in the town of Five Bluffs. If we do participate, again, it's going to be business as usual for town bluffs. um nothing's really going to change about how we're going to go about business. Uh there's a lot of policies and procedures in place that are prevent um discrimination or or making a traffic stop based off the color of someone's skin which is illegal in the state and policy of town bus that exist present day right now anyway. So if that ever happens that person not only will probably be written up but fired for discrimination. So, um, that, you know, that's a big no no just in general context of of law enforcement. So, uh, there's anti-discrimination that's that we have to go through through the state of Wyoming every year and show that we have have gone through those programs. Um, Nebraska, where I previously came from, takes it a step further. Uh, and they make you participate in a their own state, you know, rand class. So, um, yeah, I to to to answer your question, absolutely not. There's no repercussion. Uh, you know, HSI and ICE doesn't care if we sign up for this. Uh, this is um this is a this benefits the the the police department and the town of Pine Bluffs in a in a financial way. Yes. Um but at the same time this also streamlines my my guys' involvement in those processes where before we have to call. It's gone a little quicker the last year since Laram County has been involved because they can show up on scene a lot quicker than an ICE agent out of Denver or Cheyenne can. So that that process has gotten a lot quicker. But um this streamlines um our involvement of of how we would get involved or you know the level of which

we would get involved really doesn't change except for having access to some of those forms and and whatnot that we um would go through. And you know like I said that that long process then turns into a very short process because you're cutting cutting through the middleman. And and to be clear, no, we're just because we don't sign up and we're not a part of this doesn't mean we're going to see more ICE or um Laram County Sheriff's Office or Highway Patrol in town for I you know ICE deportations. Again, Larry County Sheriff's Office and Highway Patrol aren't going to be looking for any detainee. That's the job of ICE. That's that's what they are going to do. Um, they can call they call local law enforcement for security reasons, especially if they're going after a guy that shot a cop in California, but that's general law enforcement duty anyway. We we want that to be, you know, done correctly. So, um, so no, not absolutely not. there's going to be no uh more involvement than there is generally throughout. Um, a lot of the um, detainees that are that are gone after in the general public uh, were ones that probably either had a stint in jail and were already released or something like that that again a violent crime um, like the ones I kind of listed where they had those 12 where they've gone out and went looking for those people. So 12 out of out of many arrests where they've actually had to go knock on doors, not us. Ice um and it's very I want that to be very very clear is not us or Laramie County or higher patrol knocking on those doors. So that's not something that that's part of this agreement. Um nor will it be and

there's actually policies in place to prevent that. So um but no, it's not going to get any worse in the town of Envelope. we don't sign up for this and um I would be applauded if it it did. Thank you. So, Chief, um if you continue to do business as usual, I mean, it it every time you make a stop that involves a case like this, it it is costing the town some resources. Um, if we don't enter into the MOA, then that comes out of the town's funds. Yes.

If we enter into the MOA, at least we get some kind of stipent back from from ICE to help defay some of those costs that we incur in that stop.

And that's why they, like I said, the numbers changed over the years, uh, since the 90s up to now. Um I I don't know the numbers per year, but it's it's fluctuated. Um uh the vehicle stipend is new. I've never seen that. Um and I've I've been a part of some of these conversations before in Nebraska. Uh I don't want to get into what Nebraska has, but they do have um uh 287G task force officers there. Um, a lot of uh a lot of that is, you know, to to to supplement the town's drive time and stuff like that that they normally can't, you know, you can't look forward into a budget and see because it you just never know who you're going to contact and how many times you're going to go. I mean, it's it's it's uh it's not an every time thing. So, to forecast that, they built in this vehicle stipen that's already helped L County probably the uh highway patrol as well because um vehicles aren't cheap in law enforcement. So, thank you. But yeah, we're doing these uh doing these interview not interviews, but these calls in general and and on scene waiting and it's it's time. I would I wouldn't say it's uh just money, but it's time out of our day where we could be focusing on other things. Um to piggy back off that, are there any case studies um recently, last year or so, that um look at time and money saved since that seems to be the main goal here? Um

I I don't know the answer to that. I'd hate to guess.

Yeah. Um I just just from personal knowledge um I do I do know that it'll take the it will take it from a up to an hour or longer process especially when uh when you have to involve interpreters that that process takes a while in general anyway. Um and that's another thing that the that the federal government will um offers and that's something Larry County offers in general. So it's it's not necessarily a huge benefit, but um interpreters are available for 247 call. Um so that's part of some benefit there, but to streamline that communication because a lot of times there's a communication buffer. Um I wish I was bilingual, but I'm not. And uh so there's you have to wait for some of that to go back and forth and then communicate with usually it's a nice agent and then it's finally communicated back to us. So you can see how that can take quite a while to get even back to us. Um, again, without going into the ins and outs of that, but that uh that process will go a lot smoother if we're the ones on that third party line communicating directly, getting that information, so we're all on the same page and we're not having to wait for that phone call to come back around. Um, so it'll it'll take that from, like I said, you know, 45 hour or longer, depending on, you know, the situation that it calls for, um, to 15 20 minutes. It's still a long process,

but, uh, it could be that's all that's quick compared to I mean, your normal traffic stop takes about 5 to 10 minutes. So, it's really not that much longer compared to where we're at. Well, if you stumble across any uh communities roughly our size who have had I will I will look even if they're even if they're the size of, you know, Cheyenne, I I I I still would like to know that answer as well now that you bring it up because just from personal knowledge of how it works. Uh I know it'll streamline it given the given the street officer um access to to those federal platforms and cut out, you know, the middleman, if you will. Looking at the money side of it, though.

What's that? the money side of it. I don't whether it saves time. Yeah. Uh time slash time is money all the time. Sure. Stuff, but how much money is actually saved or spent the green? Is it negative? They come out neutral based on their entrance into this for communities our size. I know it's hard to look I I I will again I will look at that. I would say that this um what we what we would in what we would gain would far exceed what we'd use for our town of our size.

Um like I said, we've had seven of these contacts in the last year alone. That's not a lot. Uh Larry County has had a lot more. Uh and I I would guess the highway patrol would even be about comparable. Um maybe a little less just um the number stops. So, but again, I'm I don't know that exactly, but uh I would say for for for what it what we would what we would gain financially from it compared to what we would have to do, we would come out on the on a financial um plus than than any burden or downfall. If that answers the question. Maybe I'm missing.

No, I I mean, kind of. I'm not doubting your expertise here. It's just more I'd like to see what other communities actually experienced, right, and then reported in terms of their budget. I can look that up. Thank you. Would you be looking at all four officers getting the training or would you have one or two of you be the point of contact that the others would then

I I think the town of our size, it's just all four of us getting uh uh certified and and go through the training. I think the training is invaluable no matter what. Um it's it's good training and um so uh they without again going into source intel they they teach and instruct a lot. Um so whenever you can do those training programs it's always good. So I would I would do all four of us. Yes. Anybody else? I guess I would like to go to executive session.

Well, look at me. That's your job. So, is there a motion to move to executive session? Do I hear a second? Second. All those in favor? I

motion carries. item um under new business, which is our zoning ordinance. Uh reading number two, uh before we go into executive session, uh that will require that you all make a decision and a vote. Uh after the executive session, you you most likely won't need to enter into a vote that would enter interest the public at that point. Um, it seems like we're going to be tableabling this decision to a future future meeting if I'm interpreting that correctly.

I think that would probably be wise, Kim. So, we can we can go on to ordinance 2026-01, the second reading, an ordinance amending the town of Pineluff's, Wyoming Code of Ordinances, chapter 20, entitled zoning and providing an effective date. I'll move to approve ordinance 2026-01. Second it. All those in favor I opposed hearing none. Motion carries. So I suppose we can go ahead and proceed into executive session.