Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern
The number of ICE detainees in Kentucky jails has more than doubled, and almost three-fourths of them have no criminal record or pending charges, according to an analysis by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 1,041 individuals in Kentucky jails in February, up significantly from the 434 in September 2025, the League reports in a four-page analysis released last week.
Jennifer Jackson, president of the League, in a statement said Kentuckians have a right to know what’s happening in publicly-funded jails operated by local elected officials.
“The League of Women Voters supports immigration enforcement policies that ensure fair treatment and due process for all persons, including the right to a fair hearing, right to counsel, right of appeal, and right to humane treatment,” Jackson said in her statement.
The analysis also found a steep increase in the share of detainees ICE designates as “non-criminal” — from 47% last September to 72% last month. Across the country, ICE arrest data shows an increasing share of those arrested have no criminal convictions or pending charges.
The group collected the data for the analysis separately from ICE and local jails, the data dated Feb. 5 and Feb. 19, respectively. The county jails shown to have ICE detainees, cumulatively 1,041 detainees, as of Feb. 5 include:
- Boone County Jail with 202 detainees.
- Campbell County Detention Center with 140 detainees.
- Christian County Jail with 104 detainees.
- Daviess County Detention Center with 27 detainees.
- Grayson County Detention Center with 158 detainees.
- Hopkins County Jail with 167 detainees.
- Kenton County Detention Center with 113 detainees.
- Laurel County Correctional Center with 1 detainee.
- Oldham County Detention Center with 128 detainees.
Five of the local jails with significant detainee populations are considered overcrowded. The jails in Grayson, Christian, Daviess, Kenton and Boone counties are holding more people than their available beds. As of Feb. 19, the Grayson County Jail was approximately 42% overcapacity; it held 759 people while having 536 beds.
The group in a press release wrote that severe overcrowding “can create challenges to ensuring human dignity” and that it was reaching out to local jailers “to learn more about how this overcrowding affects the living conditions for ICE detainees and others.”
The group wrote it planned to issue updates to its analysis and urged citizens to question their local elected officials including county judge-executives, county jailers and county magistrates or squires about the number of detainees in local jails, the jail conditions detainees face, the rights detainees have and the financial impact detainees have for counties.
Republican lawmakers have filed bills to require local law enforcement to work with ICE, though the bills haven’t gotten a legislative committee hearing so far during the 2026 legislative session.
Rep. TJ Roberts, R-Burlington, filed House Bill 47 earlier this session that would require Kentucky State Police posts to enter 287(g) agreements with ICE, which effectively deputizes local enforcement to aid with immigration enforcement. He previously said in the interim session that he was working on legislation to require all Kentucky law enforcement agencies to work with ICE.
Other bills dealing with Kentucky law enforcement agencies having to aid federal immigration agents include House Bill 361 from Louisville Republican Rep. Jared Bauman; House Bill 76 from Roberts; and Senate Bill 86 from Pikeville Republican Sen. Phillip Wheeler.
The progressive think tank Kentucky Center for Economic Policy has also published analyses of ICE arrest data, tracking 287(g) agreements signed by local jails and local law enforcement agencies. The think tank wrote there are 30 such agreements signed across the state including with four local jails: the Grayson County Detention Center, the Kenton County Detention Center, the Oldham County Detention Center and the Bullitt County Detention Center.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
