Court dismisses Indiana attorney general’s appeal in ICE cooperation lawsuit against St. Joe County sheriff
Indiana Court of Appeals rules legislative changes made the case moot
INDIANAPOLIS (WNDU) - The Indiana Court of Appeals has dismissed Attorney General Todd Rokita’s appeal in a lawsuit against St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman and the St. Joseph County Police Department over alleged failure to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Rokita accused the police department of not properly notifying ICE about the release of undocumented immigrants and of refusing to honor ICE detainers. The St. Joseph County Police Department has denied any wrongdoing from the beginning.
Rokita originally filed the civil suit in January 2025. Sheriff Redman filed a motion to dismiss a couple of months later.
The motion to dismiss was granted in Oct. 2025 after the court ruled Rokita failed to provide any evidence or specific facts to support those claims.
One week after the dismissal, Rokita’s office filed an appeal, saying its “claims are strong” and that it will “continue to seek legal remedy for the sheriff’s clear violations of state law.”
According to an Indiana Court of Appeals decision filed Wednesday, Aug. 19, the court dismissed Rokita’s appeal because recent legislative amendments to the underlying immigration enforcement statutes rendered the challenge under the old law moot.
You can read the full ruling from the Indiana Court of Appeals below:
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