Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.
Marté requested relief from Senate Enrolled Act 76, a bill signed into law March 5 by Gov. Mike Braun that would require law enforcement agencies to comply with detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If the sheriff’s office were to comply with SEA 76, it would be compelled to submit detained individuals otherwise scheduled for release to ICE jurisdiction, something Marté believes would be unconstitutional.
“The lawsuit argues that the Fourth Amendment prohibits detaining individuals without a judicial warrant or probable cause that the person committed a crime, and the Sheriff cannot constitutionally hold someone in custody simply based on their immigration status,” MCSO’s legal team wrote in a Thursday press release.
Marté’s lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal arguments between MCSO and Rokita, dating back to July 2024. Rokita sued Marté’s office over county guideline MCSO-012, which ordered law enforcement not to detain individuals based solely on non-criminal or administrative ICE detainer requests.
Marté amended the policy March 22 to comply with detainer requests accompanied by judicial warrants but argues in the suit it would still open MCSO to significant civil liability to comply with detainers alone.
The lawsuit states Marté and his office would face civil liability from the AG’s office if he failed to comply with detainers as dictated by SEA 76 but that SEA 76 would require him to act unconstitutionally.
“Sheriff Marté therefore faces an impossible situation: any action he takes in response to SEA 76 will expose MCSO to liability and risk violating the fundamental duties of his office,” the lawsuit reads.
An immigration detainer is a request to federal, state or local law enforcement to notify ICE prior to releasing a “removable alien” and place that individual under an additional 48-hour hold. The Department of Homeland Security would then be able to take that individual into custody from the law enforcement agency and remove them from the country.
After Rokita’s initial suit was dismissed Dec. 19, 2024, by a Monroe County circuit court, Rokita filed an amended version of the suit in January 2025. That lawsuit is ongoing, WRTV reported.
In his suit, Marté argues immigration control is a civil matter, and law enforcement bodies should not be subject to civil laws.
“Responsibility for enforcing federal immigration laws belongs to the federal government; state and local officials generally lack the authority to enforce federal immigration laws,” the lawsuit reads.
SEA 76 also contains provisions forbidding any university or government body, including Indiana University, from interfering with federal immigration enforcement.
SEA 76 will go into effect July 1, meaning MCSO would be compelled to abide by the bill if the suit is not ruled on or dismissed.
