Greene County Jail — Springfield MO, 233 ICE detainees (224 uncharged), 375-bed capacity, $100/day
Overview
The Greene County Jail in Springfield, Missouri has become a major regional ICE holding hub despite Greene County having no 287(g) agreement. As of spring 2025, the jail holds 233 ICE detainees, of whom 224 have no criminal charges — pure civil immigration detention in a county lockup.
The jail has 375 beds allocated for ICE at $100/day, generating a potential revenue stream of $9.1M+ annually at full capacity. This makes it one of the largest county-level ICE detention operations in the Ozarks region and a centerpiece of the emerging rural Missouri detention corridor.
Key Facts
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| ICE detainees (current) | 233 |
| No criminal charges | 224 (96%) |
| Bed capacity (ICE) | 375 |
| Daily rate | $100/detainee |
| Annual revenue potential | $9.1M+ |
| 287(g) agreement | No |
| Contract type | IGSA |
Why This Matters
Scale without 287(g): Greene County demonstrates that a county jail can become a major ICE detention hub without a 287(g) agreement. ICE transports detainees in from the broader region — the jail serves as a regional holding facility, not a local enforcement partner.
96% civil detainees: The overwhelming majority of people held here have no criminal charges. This is a revenue-driven civil detention operation using a county jail designed for criminal pretrial holding.
Revenue dependency risk: At $9.1M/year potential, ICE revenue could become a structural budget dependency for Greene County, creating long-term incentive alignment with federal enforcement priorities. This is the pattern documented across rural jails nationally (see ice-contract-pipeline).
Miles Young case catalyst: The January 2026 killing of 15-year-old Miles Young in Springfield, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant, has become a political flashpoint driving state legislators to push mandatory 287(g) agreements. The suspect was held at Greene County Jail, intensifying the facility’s political significance. See springfield-mo-287g-miles-young.
Regional Context
Greene County Jail is the anchor of the emerging Ozarks detention corridor — a network of rural Missouri jails competing for ICE contracts. See missouri-ozarks-ice-corridor.
- Adjacent Ozark County signed a contract at $110/night plus $1.10/mile for 525-mile transport runs.
- Rural jails across southern Missouri are treating ICE contracts as an economic lifeline for budget-distressed communities.
- Missouri now has 60+ 287(g) agreements, with immigration arrests nearly tripling statewide in 2025-2026.
Sources
- Marshall Project: Why These Missouri Jails Want ICE Contracts (2025/05/19) — Documents rural Missouri jails competing for ICE contracts
- Missouri Independent: Immigration crackdown reaches beyond workplace (2026/04/10)
- STLPR: Immigration arrests nearly triple in Missouri (2026/04/13)
- KCUR: Rural Missouri jails score windfall
- KY3: Lawmakers urge ICE agreements after Springfield shooting (2026/04/11)