ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County commissioners on Tuesday are discussing the Intergovernmental Services Agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to hold federal inmates and Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in the jail.

For the past several months, the county has been trying to renegotiate how much it is reimbursed for housing federal inmates and ICE detainees.  

What You Need To Know

Orange County commissioners are reviewing the federal agreement with ICE

Several commissioners have cited concerns over how much taxpayers are paying for ICE detainees held without local criminal charges at the Orange County jail

For the past several months, the county has been trying to renegotiate how much it’s reimbursed for housing immigration detainees

According to the county, the current reimbursement rate per inmate is $88 per day, but the cost of holding them is $180 per day

According to the county, its current reimbursement rate per inmate is $88 per day.

But according to a county report, the cost to hold each detainee amounts to more than $180 daily.

The most recent offer by the U.S. Marshals Service would increase the reimbursement rate to $125 per day, which accounts for a 42% increase, but that still would be below the amount it costs Orange County to hold them.

Orange County has maintained an IGSA with the U.S. Marshals Service since 1983, and it is the primary agreement with the federal government under which it houses inmates at the jail and receives reimbursements for expenses related to their incarceration.

District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson cited a number of issues that concerns her about holding ICE detainees at the Orange County Jail.

She said the number of ICE detainees held at the jail without local criminal charges starting in December 2025 increased significantly, putting more of the financial burden on Orange County taxpayers to keep detainees in jail.

“What we know now is that this is costly, and frankly we don’t want to be part of something that is costing our taxpayers additional funds as well as not providing what we understand as a transparency that we’re used to being able to provide our residents,” Wilson said.

Even without the additional inmates, officers and resources at the jail are already stretched thin, Wilson said.

She said she wants Orange County residents to be confident that their taxpayer dollars are going toward keeping them safe.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings sent a letter to ICE in February expressing his concerns about the increased number of ICE detainees held in the Orange County Jail. He advised the agency that the county would put an end to the rebooking of inmates without new charges.

He also capped the number of detainees not facing local charges at the Orange County Jail to 66 males and 64 females, amounting to 130 inmates total.

According to a presentation by the county at Tuesday’s meeting, that number has dropped significantly.

Commissioners are considering several alternative agreements with the federal government to continue to hold ICE detainees.

“Someone’s coming in for a federal trial, they have the need to be detained if it’s a criminal defendant, then that’s what the jail is there for,” Wilson said. “I think removing the ICE portion of it would best fit for our jail’s purposes, for the purposes that we understand that these are not criminal detainees.”

Regardless of the new agreement that commissioners approve, the county would have to continue to cooperate with ICE under state law.

One alternative service agreement is a Basic Ordering Agreement, which would hold ICE detainees who are facing criminal charges for up to 48 hours, but at a reduced rate.