Dodge County Jail gets rave review in surprise visit to inspect ICE Detention conditions

The Dodge County Jail was recently visited by members of congress to inspect the jail as an “ICE Detention Facility”. Sheriff Dale Schmidt wrote a letter to the public that outlined the reason and details of the visit.

This morning (Monday, June 2, 2025), United States Congressman Mark Pocan (D – 2nd District of Wisconsin) and United States Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D – 4th District of Wisconsin) made an unannounced visit to the Dodge County Jail demanding that they be allowed to inspect the jail as an “ICE Detention Facility”. We will point out that the Dodge County Jail is not an “ICE Detention Facility” run by the federal government, but rather we are county run jail who has a US Marshall’s Service (USMS) contract. As a result, ICE can hold detainees in our jail under that USMS contract. Sheriff Dale Schmidt informed the members of congress that while they do not have the immediate access to the Dodge County Jail that they believe they have; in the interest of being open and transparent he would assist them by providing them with a tour of the jail.

During, and subsequent to, the tour, these members of congress indicated that they were very pleased with the quality of the jail and how it was run. Congressman Pocan in a post on X after the tour stated, “It (the Dodge County Jail) gets good reports, and I think we saw that. The Sheriff does a good job here.”

Congresswoman Moore stated in that same post on X about the Dodge County Jail, “it is basically a well-kept facility. They have medical facilities, they have recreation centers, and so this seems to be a well-run operation…they have women here, and they have mental health services.” In addition, Congresswoman Moore told Sheriff Schmidt during the tour that if she could pick up the Dodge County Jail, put it on a flatbed, and move it to Milwaukee, she would do so because of how nice the jail is.

Sheriff Schmidt would like to thank Congressman Pocan and Congresswoman Moore for taking the time speaking with him and for allowing him to provide insight into Dodge County Sheriff’s Office operations. However, he would like to correct a couple statements made by Congressman Pocan and Congresswoman Moore during their post on X to ensure that the public is accurately informed as it is clear there was some misunderstanding on 2 points given in the tour.

First, Sheriff Schmidt was asked for the total number of ICE detainees were being held at the Dodge County Jail on today’s date. He indicated ICE population was about 100 but wasn’t sure on the exact amount off the top of his head. The reason he did not have that information was because he came directly from assisting a

member of the community with a serious medical event, to responding to the unannounced visit by these members of congress. As a result, he had not yet been able to get the exact numbers for the day. It was assured to both members of congress that the information regarding a total of immigration detainees could be provided to them at the conclusion of the tour.

At the conclusion Congressman Pocan told Sheriff Schmidt that he would get the daily numbers from the Immigration Field Office at the phone number provided to Congressman Pocan by Sheriff Schmidt. Sheriff Schmidt specifically asked if Congressman Pocan wanted additional information before he left and he said he would get it from ICE. This is information that is maintained at the sheriff’s office daily, contrary to the statements made in the post that no census is kept. The number of ICE detainees in the Dodge County Jail as of end of day June 1, 2025, was 95 males and 0 females.

The second item that needs to be corrected is regarding the ICE staff presence at the Dodge County Jail. Congressman Pocan indicated that ICE is MIA at the Dodge County Jail as they only visit once every 3 weeks. He also indicated that no ICE were at the jail today. To be clear, Sheriff Schmidt was asked if ICE is at the Dodge County Jail regularly to inspect living conditions and speak with the people being housed there. Sheriff Schmidt responded to that specific question but follow up questions were not asked of the Sheriff regarding this topic. It is true that a person from ICE comes to the jail once every 3 weeks for regularly inspection purposes, however, the ICE agent stays at the jail for the full week and not just one day. In fact, that person arrived at the jail while the tour was taking place, but these members of congress never asked to speak with members of ICE who might be present at the jail. It is understandable how this could have been misunderstood during the tour which is why this clarification is necessary.

The sheriff did mention that ICE conducts about 3 inspections per year and those inspections last 3 days each. Additionally, immigration staff are in our jail regularly each week with visits by other staff regularly to address the needs of detainees in our custody. ICE is far from MIA with their assistance in the facilitation of the intergovernmental agreement.

Once again, Sheriff Schmidt would like to thank the members of congress for taking time to have a better understanding of the facts. While the Sheriff and these members of congress opinion on the immigration may differ, they are all on the same page that the Dodge County Jail is a “well-run operation”. The credit for that goes to the jail front line staff and jail supervisors for a job well done.

Questions may be directed to Sheriff Dale J. Schmidt