SKOWHEGAN — Somerset County officials appear to be in agreement in their opposition to a bill sitting on the desk of Gov. Janet Mills that would limit local law enforcement’s ability to work with federal immigration authorities.

But the Board of Commissioners held off on voting on a resolution to publicly express its displeasure with the bill during its meeting Wednesday.

District 1 Commissioner Robert Sezak, of Fairfield, District 2 Commissioner Cyprien Johnson, of Madison, and District  3 Commissioner Scott Seekins, of St. Albans, each said they would support the resolution.

District 4 Commissioner John Alsop, of Cornville, said he opposed the bill but would not support or sign the resolution, saying it would be an overstep for the role of county commissioners to lobby at the state level.

The commissioners, who have now discussed the topic at their last two meetings in response to Sheriff Dale Lancaster’s concerns about the bill, decided to wait until a future meeting for a formal vote.

Sezak, the chairman, said he would prefer to take the vote with a full board. District 5 Commissioner Joel Stetkis, of Canaan, a former legislator and chairman of the state Republican party, was absent from the meeting.

Sezak also said waiting would give the commissioners more time to refine the wording of their public statement. And Mills, a Democrat, is not unexpected to act on the bill any time soon.

A spokesperson for Mills told news outlets in Maine this week she does not plan to act on LD 1971 until the next legislative session, scheduled for January. A special session, if one is called, could trigger action earlier.

The measure will be held until the Legislature returns for at least three more days, at which point the governor may veto the bill or allow it to become law without her signature.

In June, legislators in both the House and Senate narrowly passed the bill, introduced by Rep. Deqa Dhalac, D-South Portland, and sponsored by a slate of Democrats. Its passage came amid the efforts of President Donald Trump, a Republican, to carry out a mass deportation campaign.

The bill would prohibit state, county and local law enforcement officers from investigating, interrogating, detaining, detecting, stopping, arresting or searching a person for immigration enforcement purposes.

It also would prohibit state, county and local agencies from placing officers under the supervision of a federal agency for immigration enforcement; using an employee of an immigration authority as an interpreter for someone in custody; and transferring a person to an immigration authority unless authorized by a court order or warrant.

It specifically permits state, county and local agencies to collaborate with immigration authorities in some activities, such as providing criminal history information; participating in law enforcement task forces with primary purposes other than immigration enforcement; and giving access to interview someone in custody, if the request is supported by a court order.

Lancaster, the Somerset County sheriff, told the county commissioners the day that the bill passed, June 18, that he found the bill to be unconstitutional and an overstep of the Legislature.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Alsop, one of the commissioners, said he did not think the bill was unconstitutional but agreed that it was poorly written and hoped Mills would veto it. He questioned, however, whether the commissioners’ duty is to give her that message collectively.

“I’ve said this before: I don’t think we should be sounding off with declarations and pontifications and resolutions about political issues that do not directly concern us,” Alsop said. “We are not a legislative body. Our job is to look after the county, and make sure the bills are paid and policies are appropriate.”

Seekins and Johnson said they were in favor of a resolution.

“My perspective is it is unconstitutional,” Seekins said. “It flies in the face of our law enforcement and brings a higher risk to our community when we’re not able to coordinate or cooperate with federal agencies to take care of those that are committing crimes.”

Alsop, a retired lawyer whose career included stints as a prosecutor, defense attorney and probate judge, asked Seekins later in the meeting what exactly was unconstitutional. Seekins was not able to cite any aspect in particular.

Sezak, the chairman, said he was also in favor, as the bill would directly affect the county. But he called out U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as the ones acting unconstitutionally for their use of masks and lack of identification while carrying out enforcement activities and role in “essentially kidnapping people and whisking them away to unknown parts.”

Lancaster did not comment on the constitutionality of the bill Wednesday, but said he was “offended” the Legislature would tell him the agencies with which he can and cannot collaborate.

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office regularly works with various federal agencies, and requests for help go both ways, Lancaster said. He was concerned the bill would compromise those relationships, which can help keep his deputies safe in some situations.

“Somerset County deputies do not actively enforce federal immigration law,” he said. “But if we are asked for help, I am going to send my deputies. I don’t want to compromise my deputies’ safety on the side of the road if they run into a situation where their safety might be tied to some illegal immigration activity.”

In one recent example, federal agents assisted the Sheriff’s Office with a “volatile situation” in the Jackman area, Lancaster said.

Federal agencies have frequently worked with the Sheriff’s Office in a string of dozens of busts of illegal marijuana growing operations since January 2024, according to information previously released. Those agencies include Homeland Security Investigations, which is one of two law enforcement divisions within ICE.

The other ICE division, Enforcement and Removal Operations, is the one more directly involved in the high-profile raids and arrests that have taken place across the country in recent months.

Somerset County also has a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal inmates at the county jail in Madison. ICE is one of the authorized agency users named in the contract.

The Morning Sentinel recently obtained a copy of the contract through a request under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act and after weeks of back-and-forth with the county’s lawyer.

The county jail can hold up to 35 male and five female inmates, at a reimbursement rate of $135 per inmate per day, the contract says. For fiscal year 2025-26, the boarding of federal inmates is budgeted to bring in about $1.72 million in revenue, which helps offset property taxes.

Lancaster said Wednesday he did not think LD 1971, if signed into law, would affect the county’s ability to board inmates under the contract.