Intergovernmental Service Agreements and Federal Detainees in County
Thousands held in local jails are legally federal prisoners — guarded by county deputies, paid for with federal dollars, under agreements most Americans.
Thousands held in local jails are legally federal prisoners — guarded by county deputies, paid for with federal dollars, under agreements most Americans have never heard of.
Federal detainees sit in county jail cells, guarded by county deputies, while legally still belonging to the federal government. Most people assume federal prisoners are held in federal prisons. That assumption is wrong. Thousands of federal detainees are housed in local county jails under a system most Americans have never heard of. The arrangement is made possible through Intergovernmental Service Agreements — known inside the justice system simply as IGSAs.
The system most people do not know:
Across the United States, thousands of federal detainees sit in the same cells as local defendants, guarded by county deputies, while legally still belonging to the federal government. The arrangement is made possible through Intergovernmental Service Agreements — known inside the justice system simply as IGSAs. An IGSA is a formal detention contract between a federal agency and a state or local government. It allows a county jail to house federal detainees in exchange for a daily payment.
Where the authority comes from:
The legal authority comes from 18 U.S.C. § 4013, which allows the Texas Attorney General to contract with state and local governments for “the housing, care, and security” of federal detainees. Operational rules are outlined in U.S. Marshals Service Policy Directive 9.19. It is a perfect example of dual sovereignty in action. The U.S. Marshals Service does not run long-term prison facilities. It relies on local jails instead.
The Marshals' role:
The U.S. Marshals Service sits at the center of this structure. The Marshals are responsible for housing federal detainees awaiting trial, sentencing, or transport. But unlike the Bureau of Prisons, the Marshals Service does not run long-term prison facilities. It relies on local jails instead. That gap between need and capacity is the opening through which county jails enter the federal detention business.
What the contracts carry:
A typical IGSA contract includes daily per-detainee payment rates, transportation requirements, medical care responsibilities, facility inspection requirements, and renewal and termination clauses. For many counties, these agreements are a major revenue stream. Facilities like the Williamson County Jail in Texas have previously held federal detainees under these arrangements.
Each agreement sets a per-detainee daily rate — the price a county charges the federal government for every night a federal detainee spends in a local cell.
The contract spells out who moves the detainee and under what conditions, from arrest to court to transport between facilities.
The agreement assigns responsibility for the detainee's medical needs, a duty that can fall on county staff and county budgets.
The contract requires inspections of the jail, a check on whether the facility meets the terms the federal government is paying for.
The agreement sets out how and when either side can renew or end the arrangement, which means the deal is not permanent and either party can walk away.
Why it happens:
Federal detainees are housed in county jails because the U.S. Marshals Service lacks sufficient federal detention capacity. The local jail fills the gap — and gets paid for it. The county gains revenue. The Marshals gain beds. The detainee gains a cell that answers to two sovereigns at once.
The human and constitutional stakes:
A person held in a county jail under an IGSA is a federal detainee, guarded by county staff, paid for by federal dollars. The public rarely knows the arrangement exists. IGSA contracts blur the line between federal and local detention, and that blur carries real consequences for the people inside the cells and for the communities that house them. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also relies heavily on IGSAs, a practice that has produced a patchwork of roughly a hundred-plus facilities in recent years and significant transparency concerns about the agreements themselves.
A person held in a county jail under an IGSA is a federal detainee, guarded by county staff, paid for by federal dollars — and the public rarely knows the arrangement exists.
What the Record Shows:
IGSA contracts blur the line between federal and local detention. A person held in a county jail under an IGSA is a federal detainee, guarded by county staff, paid for by federal dollars — and the public rarely knows the arrangement exists. The authority traces to 18 U.S.C. § 4013 and U.S. Marshals Service Policy Directive 9.19. The contracts carry daily rates, transportation duties, medical care, inspections, and renewal and termination clauses. The counties get revenue. The Marshals get beds. The detainee sits in a cell that answers to two sovereigns at once, often without the public ever knowing the arrangement exists.