County Fight Contested

Bradford County FL — 3,000-Bed IGSA Facility on Contaminated Site

Bradford, FL FIPS 12007

Vote: 3-2 (Jan 15, 2026) to advance proposal

Current status: Ongoing. April 7, 2026 BOCC agenda includes both FDEP environmental monitoring agreement AND lease for 'temporary ICE detainment facility' — lease before studies complete.

The Fight

Bradford County is the documented case study of the county-led IGSA model — where a consulting firm (Sabot Consulting) staffed by former ICE officials pitches rural sheriffs on building detention facilities as economic development. See bradford-county-douglas-building for the facility entry. The fight is ongoing.

What Makes This Different

Unlike federal warehouse purchases (where the government buys property and bypasses local processes), the IGSA model goes through local democratic processes. The county commission votes. The sheriff holds the lease. The county retains the land. This makes it harder to fight with federal preemption arguments — but it also means the fight happens in public, at commission meetings, where residents can show up.

Timeline

July 2025: Sheriff Gordon Smith approached by former Osceola County Chief Deputy working with Sabot
December 16, 2025: Sabot briefing package prepared (12 pages, marked DRAFT)
January 15, 2026: Commission votes 3-2 to advance (Spooner and Riddick opposed)
January 30, 2026: Community protest
February 28, 2026: WUFT reports 15 years of VOC groundwater contamination spreading to 30 properties
March 3, 2026: Sheriff’s report to commission — dismisses opposition as “hate-filled vigor”
April 6, 2026: The RAMM publishes “The Blueprint for America’s Detention Camps” based on leaked Sabot documents
April 7, 2026: BOCC agenda: FDEP site access agreement AND sheriff’s lease
April 8, 2026: Bradford County residents debate plan at public meeting; community opposition continues to build (News4Jax, WUFT)
April 15-16, 2026: Sheriff Gordon Smith adds to the BOCC agenda just 24 hours before the meeting: a lease agreement for the Douglas Building plus “Mandatory Operational Requirements and Compliance Standards” — including a “Duplex Submersible Pump Station” and “heavy-duty grinder pumps” indicating that “anticipated occupancy load requires a robust upgrade to the current waste management system to prevent municipal interference or environmental hazards”
April 16, 2026: Item TABLED. Four of five commissioners say the agenda-stuffing was rushed and they cannot vote on the proposal as presented; commissioners ask for all options for the Douglas Building to be considered, including alternatives that would turn the site into an industrial park instead. Strong community opposition at the meeting. Per WWALS Watershed Coalition (John S. Quarterman): “Bradford County should choose one of its other options for the site. And the county should do nothing with the site until FDEP returns results of its contamination examination.”
April 19 – May 5, 2026: ICE issues federal non-disclosure directive to Florida 287(g) participating agencies (including all 67 Florida sheriffs under FL Statute 908.11) instructing them to withhold 287(g)-program-derived information from public-records requests. Bradford County Sheriff’s Office is structurally subject to the directive given Florida’s mandatory 287(g) regime. See comms-discipline entry.

The April 16 Tabling — Reading the Vote

Reading what happened on April 16: Sheriff Smith and his Sabot-aligned advisors stuffed the agenda 24 hours before the meeting, attempting to convert what had been a “report” into a binding lease vote. Four of five commissioners — including some of the original “yes” votes from the Jan 15 advance — said no, that’s not how this works. The 3-2 January advance vote did not survive contact with an attempted forced vote. This is significant for the IGSA model: even where the consultant’s pitch initially passes a commission, the operational mechanics of getting to a signed lease require the commission to vote again on specific terms — and at that second vote, the consensus that produced the initial advance can collapse.

Florida’s Mandatory 287(g) Regime

Florida Statute 908.11 requires every county sheriff operating a county detention facility to have a 287(g) agreement in place with ICE. All 67 Florida county sheriffs have signed 287(g) Task Force Model agreements. Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith is therefore subject to:

The statutory 287(g) mandate at the state level
The IGSA-detention-facility pitch from Sabot at the county level
The May 2026 ICE federal non-disclosure directive constraining what information his office can release about 287(g) operations

The same sheriff who is statutorily mandated to hold a 287(g) agreement is now being asked to host a federal detention facility designed by Sabot — and is structurally constrained from disclosing the operational details of either to public-records requesters. The transparency layer is being closed off as the operational layer is being built up.

Environmental Issue

The Douglas Building site has VOC-contaminated groundwater monitored by FDEP for 15 years. The Sabot proposal lists “vapor intrusion” as a risk. The lease is on the agenda before the environmental studies are complete — contradicting the Sheriff’s March 3 assurance.

The Arguments

For (Sheriff Smith): 1,250 jobs, $239M/year at full capacity, “creative” alternative to raising taxes, “we can do it the right way”

Against (residents, WWALS): Environmental contamination, proximity to community, lack of transparency, moral objections, the detainees are “human beings” being warehoused

Tactics

Sheriff framing opposition as political (“hate-filled vigor,” “misinformation”)
Sheriff personally attacking individual critics by name at commission meeting (Mr. Still)
Sheriff claiming outsiders (“from other areas around us”) don’t represent the county
Opponents using FOIA/public records, environmental data, protest, and national media attention

Sources

This research is published at The RAMM — investigative reporting on the detention pipeline.

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