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Lebanon County commissioners again on Thursday denied a local protest group’s resolution to discourage county agencies from providing immigration enforcement assistance through 287(g) agreements with the federal government.
In a related move, commissioners voted 2-1 to open a money market account to accept payments from the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of the Lebanon County Sheriff’s Office.
Commission chairman Mike Kuhn and commissioner Bob Phillips voted to approve the measure while commissioner Jo Ellen Litz voted no, saying any monies received should be deposited into the county’s general fund instead of into the new account for the sheriff’s office, which will be opened at First Citizens Community Bank.
After the meeting, county sheriff Jeffrie Marley Jr. told LebTown he was given a spreadsheet stating the county will receive a one-time payment of $100,000 for the purchase of departmental vehicles and $7,500 for each deputy who receives ICE credentials.
Sixteen of the 22 full-time deputies on staff are receiving credentials, meaning the county will get federal funds totaling $220,000 for its ICE involvement. The department also has six part-time deputies on staff, according to Marley.
The sheriff’s office and the Lebanon County District Attorney’s Office, along with several other law enforcement agencies in Lebanon County, signed delegation of authority agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February to perform specified immigration officer functions under ICE’s direction and oversight.
LebTown asked Kuhn during Thursday’s meeting if the county would require the DA’s office to open an account similar to the sheriff’s department. Kuhn replied that their “doors (are) open if the DA chooses to come to us. We’ll have that discussion. I’ll have to learn the details when that time comes.”
District Attorney Pier Hess Graf later attended the meeting to make a grant application approval request of commissioners but made no mention of how her department will handle payments from the federal government through the agreement she signed.
At the March 5 commissioners meeting, some members of the protest group Mondays with Meuser asked for the discouragement resolution to be passed.
Michael Schroeder of South Annville Township asked commissioners then to “discourage all county agencies, offices, and officials from engaging in or assisting with the enforcement of non-criminal federal immigration laws.” They took no action but told attendees they would further study the request.
On Thursday, Schroeder again asked commissioners to adopt the resolution. For the second time, no motion was made due to a lack of a second.
Schroeder reiterated Thursday what another group member had stated in March about the “moral hazard” of becoming involved with ICE operations.
“There’s a moral hazard of being then dependent on and beholden to federal government and federal power and federal monies for training and equipment and so on. So I would urge you to kind of think about that issue as well and consider the moral hazard involved in county agencies contracting with and agreeing with this federal agency, who in return will be providing all kinds of resources to the county,” he said.
John Rose of Swatara Township agreed with Schroeder and asked why funding is provided to LEAs. Locally, South Lebanon Township and Lebanon County Regional police also signed agreements with ICE in early February, and Cornwall Borough PD joined in March. Lebanon city officials discussed it but have not taken formal action.
“Think about the way ICE has displayed itself in Minneapolis. They want a foot in the door here. What is going to be following behind that foot? And they’re offering money. Why are they offering so much money? There’s a reason for that. This is a very dangerous situation,” Rose said.
Neither Kuhn nor Phillips said anything during the public discussion, and did not respond to a public comment question from Lou Felli of Myerstown asking why they would not second the motion.
However, following the adjournment of the meeting and before the start of the elections board session that followed, Kuhn sat down and spoke with the protest members, and Phillips spoke briefly, too.
Kuhn said he trusts Graf and Marley as department heads, as well as their staffs, to perform the duties requested of them by ICE. Philips said he has faith in them, too. Kuhn said he’d rather have LEAs working with ICE as opposed to ICE agents working alone to avoid a repeat of the scenario in Minnesota, where two people were killed by ICE agents.
Other county business
In other business, commissioners voted unanimously to:
- Accept the treasurer’s report. The county had a beginning cash balance of $2,171,594.14, and receipts totaling $1,780,006.26, leaving a new cash balance of $3,951,640, less expenditures of $1,659,571.26, and a tax claim, leaving a current cash balance of $2,099,542.31, a figure that includes Friday’s county employee payroll.
- Renew a three-year contract with Boyer & Ritter of Camp Hill to conduct a county audit. Costs are $76,000 for 2024, $78,000 for 2025, and $80,000 for 2026.
- Adopt a resolution to certify a provision of a local grant match for state operating financial assistance totaling $166,042 for Lebanon Transit. Those monies will be distributed quarterly in an amount totaling $41,510.50.
- Pay invoices for expenses related to the America250 celebration of the nation’s birthday on July 4. Expenses paid include $1,427.50 to Level Eleven for the Ebenezer Beautification Banner, $763.20 to Tents for Rent for a tent rental, $577.50 to Eagle Rental for a light tower rental, and $500 to Brittany Schubawer for the creation of promotional sketches and related supplies for the requested artwork.
- Approve RASA/VOJO/VOCA grant modification totaling $108,519 for the Lebanon County District Attorney’s Office. The grant period is from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. Funding is used for victim assistance programs.
- Apply for a 2027 fiscal year Police Traffic Services Enforcement grant through the state Department of Transportation. The state’s fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30. The grant, if awarded, would provide funding to the district attorney’s office for reducing impaired (DUI) driving, increasing seat belt usage, reducing speeding, aggressive and distracted driving, and pedestrian safety.
- Apply for a 2025-27 Violence & Delinquency Prevention grant for Lebanon County Probation Services.
- Provide a hotel tax grant totaling $5,000 to Mount Gretna International Film Festival for the third annual festival held during the Outdoor Art Show in August.
- Table a hotel tax grant funding request for $2,000 from Campbelltown Community Alliance for flower planters along U.S. Route 322.
- Reappoint Dale Hoover of Lebanon as a township governing board member and Daniel Kreider of Lebanon as the farm member to the Lebanon County Agricultural Land Preservation Board. Both terms are for three years and run through Jan. 31, 2029. In a related matter, Timothy Auman of Lebanon was appointed as a new public representative to the board. His term also runs through Jan. 31, 2029.
- Name Michael Swank to the Lebanon Transit Board to fulfill the remainder of Allen Freed’s term.
- Provide exemptions from real estate tax to six fully disabled veterans or their families.
- Grant personnel transactions as presented by the Human Resources Department director. It was announced that the county had entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the AFSCME Union for the Lebanon County Correctional Facility’s full-time correctional officers and corporals, effective Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2029. Highlights of the agreement include a 5-year term; new wages for 2026, including 2.5-4% wage increases throughout the remainder of the contract term; shift differential increases to 0.85 cents per hour for 2nd and 3rd shifts; an increase in health insurance deductibles; no change in co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions; restructure of the longevity bonus plan; removal of all compensatory time language from the contract; moved up eligibility to earn and use sick and vacation leave; and uniform allowance increased by $50 to $300 annually with special qualifying factors.
- Approve the minutes of their March 19 meeting and an executive session to discuss personnel matters.
Election board meeting
Following the conclusion of the commissioners meeting, the elections board considered and approved a request of the same protest group to create policy regarding notification to voters for defective mail-in ballots received in advance of Election Day. A notification policy for ballots missing a signature was adopted during that session.
Next meeting
Lebanon County Commissioners meet the first and third Thursday of the month at 9:30 a.m. in Room 207 of the county municipal building, 400 S. 8th St., Lebanon. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, April 16.
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