Parker County Sheriff considers ramping up ICE cooperation
The Parker County Sheriff’s Office is working toward entering into an agreement with ICE that will give deputies additional immigration enforcement powers beyond those they already have.
While the agreement has not been finalized, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said, Sheriff Russ Authier got approval from county commissioners at a March meeting to work toward entering into an agreement with ICE that will train and authorize certain deputies under the “Task Force Model.” The item passed unanimously without discussion.
“We’re not a sanctuary county,” Authier told commissioners March 9. “We’ve been, I guess, cooperating with ICE forever. We have 28 in jail right now with detainers on them. This is going to give us some extra tools in the box in adopting the warrant service models and the task force models. It gives some of our guys some extra, I guess, immigration enforcement authority.”
ICE has long cooperated with local law enforcement through its 287(g) program, which includes four types of agreements based on what tasks deputies are being trained and authorized to perform. The Task Force Model is one of the four, and according to ICE, it “serves as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties.”
Senate Bill 8, which took effect in Texas at the start of 2026, requires sheriff’s offices in counties that operate a jail to enter into immigration law enforcement agreements with ICE. But cooperation with the agency is nothing new for the Parker County Sheriff’s Office. Authier signed a “Warrant Service Officer” agreement with ICE in February 2025, records show.
A template for the Task Force Model agreement with ICE was attached to the agenda for the March 9 commissioners court meeting. The template agreement lays out broad immigration enforcement powers trained deputies would be authorized to perform, including charging, arresting and detaining individuals they believe have violated immigration law — sometimes without a warrant, if they believe detainment is urgent.
The sheriff’s office would be eligible for additional funding for equipment as part of the agreement if signed, a spokesperson for the office said. The sheriff’s office also plans to apply for a state grant of $100,000 that gives funding to sheriff’s offices for immigration enforcement duties they perform as part of their cooperation with ICE. Senate Bill 8 created the grant program, which is called the Sheriff Immigration Law Enforcement Program. The program is administered through the comptroller’s office using state tax dollars.
Commissioners unanimously voted April 13 to authorize the sheriff’s office to apply for the grant, and there was no discussion on the item. The grant amounts are based on population size and can only be used for costs related to immigration enforcement, including compensation for authorities, equipment, attendance at training events, generating and delivering reports required by the program and costs to the county for confining inmates as part of the agreement.
Comptroller Kelly Hancock released a brief report on the grant program’s progress at the start of April. The report stated that out of 193 sheriff’s offices in the state that have acting immigration law enforcement agreements, 41 have applied since Jan. 1 for grants. The offices that have applied will receive $3.42 million altogether for fiscal year 2026, according to the report. Tarrant County was on the list and will receive $140,000.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 4:48 PM.
