Berrien ICE Transfer Is Not Release
A DHS detainer can cause a person to leave Berrien County Jail and enter immigration custody. The jail roster may then stop showing current custody, but that change is not community release. The Berrien release or transfer record should identify the handoff when disclosure is lawful.
Berrien's HB 1105 reports publish quarterly Law Enforcement Support Center inquiries and DHS detainer counts. Those totals establish a local detainer pathway, not the status of a named person.
Search ICE After Berrien Transfer
Use the official ICE Online Detainee Locator System after the jail confirms an immigration transfer. Search by A-number and country of birth when known, or use the available biographical route with exact spelling.
- Confirm the Berrien jail identity and transfer date.
- Gather the A-number and country of birth if available.
- Search the official ICE locator.
- Compare the returned identity and facility information.
- Contact ICE or the listed facility when the result is unclear.
The locator is limited to covered ICE detention records. It does not replace the Berrien jail release sheet or the court file.
Berrien Detainer Reporting Context
The sheriff's HB 1105 page reports bookings, LESC inquiries, responses, responses indicating a reported immigration status, and DHS detainers by quarter. A quarterly count cannot identify a person or prove the result of an inquiry. Use it only to understand that detainer-related transfers occur in the local custody process.
A detainer is a request or notice tied to another agency's custody interest. It may delay release to the community or produce a transfer after the local basis for detention ends. The court record and jail record explain the local event; ICE records explain the immigration custody that follows.
Confirm ICE Custody or Release
USA.gov's ICE locator explanation provides the federal route and basic search guidance. If ICE shows no match, recheck spelling, identifiers, and timing. Ask the Berrien jail which agency received the person.
An ICE release may involve conditions, reporting, transfer, removal proceedings, or another status not shown by county records. Do not infer the destination from disappearance from the jail roster. GDC, BOP, and ICE are separate systems, and Georgia VINE is only a notification layer.
Berrien Detainers and ICE Transfers
An immigration detainer is not the same as an ICE arrest record or an order proving removal. It is a custody-related request or notice that can affect what happens when the local basis for confinement ends. Berrien County Jail may release a person from county authority while transferring that person to immigration custody. The county release entry and receiving ICE record describe two linked but distinct events.
Ask the jail whether the person left for the community or was delivered to another agency. Useful county fields include booked status, arrest date and time, inmate ID, charges, court, sentence, release date, prior release history, and any transfer notation. A disappearance from current inmates is not enough.
The court file explains bond, disposition, sentence, or dismissal in the local case. It does not necessarily resolve federal immigration detention. ICE and immigration court sources must be checked separately.
Search ICE ODLS by Number
The ICE Online Detainee Locator System, or ODLS, offers an A-number search and a biographical search. The A-number route is usually more precise. Enter the number without assumptions and provide the person's country of birth as required by the interface. Compare the returned identity and detention location carefully.
The biographical route depends on exact first and last names, country of birth, and other requested details. Try known spelling variations only when supported by the person's records. Hyphenated names, multiple surnames, transliteration, or data-entry differences can prevent a match. Do not broaden the search into a guess about identity.
ODLS is intended for people currently in ICE custody and some recent custody records. It does not serve as a complete immigration case history. Coverage and timing limits mean an empty result needs agency confirmation, not a conclusion that the person was released.
ICE Locator Coverage Limits
Some people cannot be located through the public tool because of age, safety, privacy, recent processing, transfer timing, or the type of immigration custody involved. A person may also be in Customs and Border Protection custody, federal criminal custody, state custody, or another setting outside the displayed ICE record.
The USA.gov detainee locator explanation provides the federal public route and directs users toward official help. If ODLS returns no result, verify the A-number, full name, country of birth, and date of the Berrien transfer. Contact the jail to identify the receiving agency and use ICE's official contact paths.
A locator match gives a detention lead. It does not explain the outcome of removal proceedings, eligibility for release, bond, supervision, or the underlying Berrien criminal case. Those questions belong to the relevant immigration and court records.
Berrien HB 1105 Detainer Data
Berrien's HB 1105 reporting page documents the local immigration-detainer channel. It publishes quarterly booking counts of 277 in the first quarter of 2025, 272 in the second, 283 in the third, 234 in the fourth, 183 in the first quarter of 2026, and 260 in the second quarter of 2026.
Those figures are total bookings, not ICE transfers or release totals. The page separately reports Law Enforcement Support Center inquiries, responses, responses indicating a reported immigration status, and DHS detainers. Each category must be read by its own label. A quarterly aggregate cannot identify a named person, establish citizenship, or prove where anyone went after jail.
The value of the report is narrower: it confirms that detainer inquiries and DHS detainers are part of Berrien's documented custody process. For an individual, obtain the jail transfer record and then use ODLS or the receiving agency. This is the required local Angle K, and it should never be converted into a claim about community release.
Community Release Versus ICE Custody
A community release means the person is no longer confined by the releasing agency and was not handed directly into another custodial system. An ICE transfer means county custody ended but immigration detention continued. Conditional immigration release may involve reporting or other terms, while removal or transfer can lead elsewhere. The Berrien jail record alone may not describe the later federal outcome.
Georgia VINE may report a change from a participating jail feed, but it is a notification service rather than an immigration locator. GDC covers Georgia state prisoners. BOP covers federal prisoners. ODLS covers the ICE detention layer. Search the system that actually received the person.
If family contact or legal coordination depends on the destination, confirm the handoff by phone and record request. Online updates can lag transport and intake.
Request Berrien Transfer Records
The Berrien County Sheriff's Office is the local custodian for jail booking, release, and transfer records. Provide the full name, date of birth if known, booking date or range, inmate ID, charge, court, and exact documents requested. Ask for the release date and reason, transfer sheet, and receiving agency where law permits.
Georgia's Open Records Act generally requires an initial agency response within three business days. Records may take longer to produce, and lawful redaction, search time, and copy fees can apply. The sheriff lists 500 County Farm Road, Nashville, Georgia 31639, office phone 229-686-7071, and jail phone 229-686-7664.
For the local criminal case, contact the Berrien Clerk of Superior Court at 201 North Davis Street, Room 230, Nashville, Georgia 31639, phone 229-686-5506. For federal immigration custody, use ICE records and legal channels. County open records cannot substitute for the federal detention file.
Verify an ICE Release
When ODLS once showed a person and later does not, do not assume a specific outcome. The person may have been released, transferred, removed, moved to another custody system, or dropped from the tool's recent coverage. Confirm through ICE and any identified detention facility.
Compare the A-number across documents. Names can vary between the Berrien booking, ICE intake, and court records. The A-number, country of birth, custody dates, and receiving facility are stronger identity anchors than a name alone.
Keep the final statement precise: Berrien County custody ended on the county release or transfer date; ICE custody was shown or not shown as of the locator check; later community status requires federal confirmation. That wording preserves the boundary between a jail departure and an actual release.