Law360 (November 13, 2026, 11:39 PM EST) -- A Washington judge concluded Friday that Adams County broke Evergreen State law when its sheriff's office shared information about individuals in custody with federal immigration authorities to aid enforcement, granting the Washington state attorney general's bid for a court order stopping the practices.  

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Marla L. Polin found Adams County violated state law when sheriff's personnel routinely emailed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection updated lists of people in county custody and disclosed details about inmates' anticipated release dates to federal agents.   

The judge further found that the sheriff's office failed to update its written policies to comply with the Keep Washington Working Act, a 2019 law that generally bars state and local law enforcement agencies from aiding in civil immigration enforcement and restricts their ability to collaborate with federal immigration agencies.

The court's findings follow a two-day bench trial in July.

"As the court found at the outset of trial, there is a strong need to clarify — for defendant and for other local law enforcement agencies in Washington — the contours of KWW and what it requires," Judge Polin wrote in the nearly 50-page ruling.

"And here, it requires a declaration from this court that the Adams County Sheriff's Office violated KWW, and a permanent injunction prohibiting defendant from violating the law in the future and requiring defendant to finally update its policies and bring them into compliance with KWW," the judge said.

According to the Washington State Attorney General's Office, the ruling marks the first time a state court has interpreted and applied provisions of the 2019 law. 

The attorney general's office first launched the lawsuit in March 2025. The complaint alleged the rural county and its sheriff's office had for years flouted their obligations under the law by detaining people solely based on their immigration status and proactively sharing nonpublic personal information about those in custody with federal immigration officials.

Judge Polin said Friday that after the Keep Washington Working Act took effect in 2019, the sheriff's office continued longstanding practices to facilitate immigration enforcement, such as sending ICE and CBP new in-custody lists that were more accurate than those posted on the online public jail roster.

Corrections staff also disclosed specifics of anticipated inmate releases — including location, time and date — in response to notification requests from federal authorities in the form of immigration detainer requests or civil immigration warrants.  

On at least six occasions from 2021 to 2023, jail staff notified federal immigration agencies of upcoming releases, and federal immigration officials arrived at the jail before the person was released and took custody of them inside or near the jail, according to the ruling.

Judge Polin found the sheriff's office also violated the Keep Washington Working Act when a sergeant allowed a CBP agent to speak with at least one of two men who had been arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle in 2023, without cautioning the men or getting their consent to be interviewed by federal immigration authorities.

The sheriff's office failed to adopt written policies in line with the requirements of the law and related guidance from the attorney general's office, the court found.

Sheriff Dale Wagner, in office since 2015, testified that he "saw no need to change" the jail's existing policies and maintains that they comply with the law, according to the ruling.

The sheriff told the court that he verbally instructed jail staff to stop sending updated inmate rosters to federal immigration authorities after receiving a warning letter from the attorney general's office in September 2023. But that instruction was never incorporated in a written policy, Judge Polin said.

"Throughout this case, defendant has argued that its operations are, in relevant respects, guided by verbal commands from Sheriff Wagner, not the written policies contained in its custody and patrol manuals," the judge said.

"But defendant's attempt to make its policies 'a moving target' … stands in sharp contradiction to its admission that the written policies in the manual are 'binding' on its employees," the court added.

Judge Polin rejected attempts by the sheriff's office to challenge the constitutionality of the Keep Washington Working Act. The court found state law is not preempted by various federal laws related to immigration enforcement, as the sheriff's office had argued.

The judge also determined that the law does not impermissibly regulate or single out the federal government, reasoning that the act only regulates state and local entities and officials.

Wagner told Law360 in a Friday email that the sheriff's office intends to appeal the decision.

"Our State and its current administration continue to support sanctuary state policies that, in my opinion, place unnecessary restrictions on law enforcement and create opportunities for dangerous individuals to return to our communities rather than be held accountable," Wagner said.

"I firmly believe that no law should prevent local law enforcement from working with federal authorities when doing so can help keep violent criminals off our streets and protect law-abiding residents," the sheriff added.

In a Friday news release, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown called the ruling "a victory for the rights and dignity of all Washingtonians, regardless of where they were born, and an affirmation that local law enforcement cannot be co-opted by the federal government."

"Today's ruling allows our state to continue building trust and confidence between law enforcement and immigrant communities as the federal administration undermines those efforts with its draconian policies," Brown said.

The state is represented by Emily Nelson, Ben Seel, Lane Polozola and Teri Healy of the Washington State Attorney General's Office.

Adams County and its sheriff's office are represented by Joel B. Ard of Ard Law Group.

The case is State of Washington v. Adams County Sheriff's Office et al., case number 25-2-01212-32, in Spokane County Superior Court, Washington.

--Editing by Emily Kokoll.

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