The sheriff of Tennessee’s second-biggest county by population is claiming that a new potential state immigration law does not apply to him.
Nashville-Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall told Tennessee Outlook that the county does not need to follow House Bill (HB) 2219, which requires county sheriffs to enter into a 287(g) program agreement with the federal government, because he lacks the required certification.
“Metro Legal advised me [that] the newly passed legislation regarding immigration enforcement does not apply to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office,” Hall (pictured above) told the outlet.
The certification Hall is missing is the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST) certification, which is “responsible for developing and enforcing standards and training for all local police officers.”
To obtain the certification, law enforcement must complete 40 hours of in-service training annually, according to its website.
Nashville Metro Legal Department Director Wally Dietz told Tennessee Outlook that since the sheriff is not certified, the “new law does not apply to him.”
In HB 2219, the bill proposal still awaiting Gov. Bill Lee’s signature, it mentions POST certification only once and says sheriffs with POST certification can temporarily suspend compliance with an agreement during a public safety emergency.
Nowhere in the bill does it say that sheriffs who do not have POST certification can’t enter into a 287(g) program agreement.
The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement agencies nationwide to perform specific immigration officer duties under federal oversight.
Three program models exist for the program: jail enforcement, task force, and warrant service officer.
The jail enforcement model allows local jails to identify and process individuals who may be in the country illegally. The task force model allows local police officers to work with federal immigration officers while they are on patrol. The warrant service officer program trains local jail officers to execute federal administrative warrants inside jails.
Currently, 66 state and local law enforcement agencies are part of the 287(g) program, representing nearly 70 percent of the state’s counties.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Simple fix – fire this guy and hire someone qualified.