Sheriff's office sets goals
January 22, 2011
by Ashley Fuller


Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison said approval of the agency's participation in a federal immigration enforcement program and making technology improvements are his priorities for the coming year.

The sheriff said he thinks 2011 is the year his office will gain approval of its application for the 287(g) program.

Garrison said he is "optimistic" the sheriff's office will secure approval from Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a two-year wait since filing its application in fall 2008.

"That is a top priority," he said.

The program trains and authorizes local law enforcement officers to identify, process and detain immigration offenders. Agencies that use the program also receive funding to jail detainees.

Major Karen Johnson, jail administrator for the sheriff's office, said having deputies trained on the program would streamline the process of verifying legal residency.

"It would move a little faster," she said. "It would be an assist to ICE because it would cut out a lot of the research they have to do."

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