Locate ICE Custody Releases

ICE Sullivan Release Scope

ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System, or ODLS, covers people currently detained by ICE and people released from ICE custody during the preceding 60 days. That recent-release window is useful when immigration custody may have followed a Sullivan County jail handoff. It is not a permanent historical archive. Once the window passes, no result cannot be treated as proof that ICE never held the person.

ICE release is also a system-specific event. It proves exit from ICE custody at the recorded point, subject to what the result and later records show. It does not prove that state, county, federal criminal, or another authority has no custody. Likewise, a current ICE result after someone leaves the Sullivan roster means county custody ended but community release did not occur at that county handoff.

Search ICE Sullivan Release Records

The ICE Online Detainee Locator has two identity routes. When the A-number is known, search with that number and country of birth. If it is not known, use exact first and last name, date of birth, and country of birth. Exact spelling and hyphenation matter. Try documented name forms rather than broad guesses.

Search soon after a suspected handoff because released-person visibility is limited.

1. Gather the full legal name, date of birth, country of birth, A-number if known, and Sullivan booking or case number.
2. Search by A-number and country of birth first. Enter the number in the form required by ODLS.
3. When no A-number is available, use the exact biographical route and check spelling, spacing, and hyphens.
4. Read whether the result reports current ICE detention or release during the recent window. Save the date and facility or event details shown.
5. Request the SCSO detainer or transfer entry to connect county custody to the federal immigration event.
6. If ODLS gives no usable result, contact ICE through its official information or records channel rather than inferring release.

The Sullivan County release search helps establish the county side of the handoff before the ICE inquiry begins.

ICE Locator Identity Fields

ODLS is strict because immigration records can include similar names, alternate spellings, and sensitive identity data. The A-number route is usually the most direct when the number is known. Country of birth is required with it. The biographical route requires first name, last name, country of birth, and date of birth. A nickname or shortened name may not match.

If a search fails, verify each field against an official document. A missing result can arise from spelling, identity mismatch, data limits, timing, or the person being outside ODLS scope. It is not a safe basis for stating that the person went home.

Note: Keep the A-number and country of birth together when asking ICE to help route a person-specific inquiry.

ICE Sullivan Transfer Records

The county record is essential when ICE is suspected after a person vanishes from the SCSO roster. Ask for the Sullivan inmate-file release or transfer record, including the release date and time, authorizing document, detainer, receiving agency, and handoff notation. A detainer is a request or legal hold that can affect whether the jail releases a person into the community or transfers custody.

Sullivan’s current roster is not a historical release list. It also contains a “Federal Inmate: Currently Unavailable” field in sampled data. That text is a nonanswer. It does not prove an ICE hold, a USMS hold, or federal prison custody. Only the agency record and an actual federal source can resolve the destination.

Detainer

A notice or request from another authority that may affect release or transfer.

Handoff

The physical and recorded movement from one custodian to another.

Community release

Departure from the relevant physical custody without an immediate agency transfer.

ODLS

ICE’s public current and recent-release detainee locator.

When SCSO documents an ICE transfer and ODLS reports current custody, the two records describe consecutive events. When ODLS later reports release, that date applies to ICE custody, not retroactively to the earlier county departure.

ICE Detainee Information Contact

ICE’s Detention Reporting and Information Line provides an official contact when the locator does not answer a basic custody question. The line operates on weekdays excluding holidays and offers language assistance. It may provide basic case information. Keep identity data and the ODLS search result ready before calling.

The official ICE locator explanation describes the public tool’s custody scope. Older or more detailed records can require an ICE records or FOIA request and may be limited by privacy or enforcement exemptions. Immigration court and case channels answer legal-proceeding questions that ODLS does not.

No physical Sullivan County ICE address belongs here. The research did not establish a Sullivan-specific ICE contract or 287(g) agreement. State that those arrangements were not established in the reviewed official sources, rather than claiming none could exist now or outside the reviewed material.

ICE Release Versus BOP Release

ICE and BOP are both federal, but their custody systems serve different purposes. BOP primarily handles federal sentenced-prisoner custody. ICE handles civil immigration detention. The BOP locator can show federal prison release dates from its record period. ODLS shows current ICE custody and releases within its recent 60-day window. A result from one system does not answer the other.

A person can leave BOP and enter ICE custody. In that sequence, a BOP past release date is accurate for prison custody while an ODLS current result is accurate for immigration detention. The person did not enter the community between them if the handoff was direct. Conversely, a person can leave a county jail for ICE without ever becoming a BOP prisoner.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons release page explains how to interpret the BOP date and location fields.

ICE Sullivan Records Requests

For the county part of the event, send the narrow request to SCSO. For the immigration part, use ICE. Sullivan County does not become custodian of federal immigration records merely because the person was once held locally. ICE does not become the source for the county jail’s exact release or transfer time.

A useful ICE request identifies the person through lawful identifiers and asks for existing custody and release information tied to a defined period. A useful SCSO request asks for date, time, authorizing paper, detainer, and receiving-agency entry. Compare the records in sequence. If a court order or immigration proceeding matters, obtain that record from the proper court channel.

Privacy rules may restrict disclosure. A public locator result is designed for a basic check, while fuller records can require consent, proof of identity, or a valid request under the agency’s process. Do not interpret a lawful redaction as proof that an event did or did not happen.

ICE Release Verification Errors

Several shortcuts create false conclusions. Waiting beyond the ODLS window can erase the public path to a recent release entry. Searching only one spelling can miss a record. Treating the county roster as a federal status source can mistake transfer for freedom. Calling the BOP locator for a civil immigration event checks the wrong system.

Preserve dates and source labels. If ODLS reports current custody, record the facility and retrieval date. If it reports release, record the event date and then check for any later custody or court development. If it returns nothing, document the search fields and proceed to SCSO transfer records or ICE inquiry. A disciplined chain is more reliable than any one screen.