He said the widely publicized case involving local imam Ayman Soliman was initially dismissed and then refiled.
A group of concerned citizens have religiously packed the commissioners’ chambers every Tuesday for months, protesting the contract the county has with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The group has questioned how many lawsuits have been filed against the county and what this litigation is costing.
County Administrator Judi Boyko said the prosecutor’s office has handled all of the cases internally to-date so there haven’t been outside legal costs.
The ICE contract stipulates the county is being paid $68 daily to house the detainees plus $36 per hour to transport them to court hearings and the airport.
Boyko said the county has been paid $4.4 million for all federal prisoners — the sheriff has a regular contract with the U.S. Marshals to hold their prisoners — not just those on ICE detainers.
“That is deposited in the general fund, it is not reserved or placed back with the sheriff’s budget to re-spend,” she said. “As we approach the 2026 operating budget we will be asking the finance director to discern more carefully about the corrections staffing, to ensure the existing budget can maintain the existing staffing.”
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones says he “couldn’t care less” about what a group of protesters are saying about him and his efforts to aid in the federal deportation movement.
That concerns Sharon Meyer from Hamilton and others.
“In my eyes, Sheriff Jones is promoting a personal agenda using his office, racially and ethnically profiling, creating fear in all immigrants, whether they are legal or not, separating families of many hard-working residents,” Meyer said.
“I feel he enjoys the publicity.”
The protesters have repeatedly raised the issue that the majority of the detainees are being held on civil, not criminal charges. Butler County resident Ann Jantzen has been there every week and implored the commissioners once again to end the ICE contract.
“ICE’s own data shows that 45% of the roughly 59,000 people in custody in mid-August had no criminal record or charges,” she said. “As you know, we the people have had no say in the sheriff’s contract with ICE and we would ask you to act on our behalf and do what you can to terminate that contract and to make us not complicit in this inhumane and cruel treatment.”
Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser was also concerned about the civil detentions — for longer than two days — and liability exposure, so he asked Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for a legal opinion.
Yost said the sheriff is operating within the law. Gmoser told the Journal-News Yost’s decision gives the county “cover” against future costly litigation.
“The attorney general says ‘hey, that’s okay, I’m sort of redefining and explaining that a county sheriff has more authority beyond just the simple statutory authority of a peace officer’, he has additional civil arrest authorities for civil violations.” Gmoser said. “So that’s the cover the attorney general has given county sheriffs.”
As of Wednesday, 314 of 973 jail inmates were ICE detainees.
The Journal-News asked Jones what he thinks about the barrage of criticism.
“I never see them saying anything when these people that are here illegally commit heinous crimes, murder, rape, drunk driving and they kill people, I never see the protesters then,” he said.
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