Pinellas County Public Safety Council meeting on September 14th at Pinellas County Justice Center. Photo by Luiza Campos.
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Residents called for the Pinellas County Public Safety Council to push against the use of county resources for immigration enforcement.
While the council has no legal power on county decisions, it advises county leaders on jail operations, populations and costs.
The council held a meeting on September 14 following a ProPublica investigation into the Pinellas County jail.
It found the jail released and rebooked about 170 immigrants to bypass a 72-hour detention limit.
Member of the Speak to your Sheriff Coalition, Linda Stoller, said she doesn’t feel very protected by county councils anymore.
“I never felt at all threatened by immigrants and I haven’t been by my neighbors. But I am threatened by the thought of police coordinating with ICE and literally kidnapping people out of their homes and then keeping them in our jails for days and days,” Stoller said.
During a press conference, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said ICE authorized the rebookings.
He also claimed to be unaware of them until October last year.
The investigation found the resets continued until July.
Earlier this month, Creative Loafing reported the Pinellas County jail received a federal waiver allowing them to hold immigrants for longer than 72 hours.
That information wasn’t public until five days after the ProPublica investigation was published.
The council did not address any of this information.
They even looked at a quarterly report on population changes within the Pinellas County Jail that had a significant increase in ICE holdings.
It showed 503 individuals in June 2026, compared to 343 in June 2025 and 82 in June 2024.
Stoller was very disappointed the council did not mention the residents’ concerns on immigration enforcement.
“I stayed for the whole meeting because I thought that when they looked at the report or when they had a chance to just give a comment that they would at least react to the fact that all those people stood before them,” Stoller said.
Gualtieri did not attend the meeting, so Chief Deputy Deanna Carey represented him.
Throughout the meeting, the Pinellas County Public Safety Coordinating Council also highlighted a local program designed to help homeless “land back on their feet.”
The program’s name is Treatment for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness.
It works as a grant funding recovery services, mental health and housing resources and substance abuse treatment.
These services are available to all residents, regardless of legal status.
For resident Courtney Prokopas the council’s decision to highlight the program now is interesting.
“The irony is not lost on me that they did nothing, zip zilch about ICE and DHS and federal enforcement while they’re profiting off of it. But here they are thinking, putting their hearts and minds together to solve problems of undocumented people in our jail population and the troubles that it brings onto their citizens and community members,” Prokopas said.
During the meeting’s public comment, multiple residents raised questions about the financial impact of holding immigrants in the Pinellas County Jail. Among the concerns were the detention costs which the federal government usually reimburses.
Currently, the Pinellas County Human Rights Office is considering an investigation into the sheriff’s office over this practice.