As Teton County ramps up to take a critical look at immigration enforcement, Sheriff Matt Carr said an independent, county-ordered audit won’t change his policies.
The audit responds to demands from organizers who want more transparency from the department’s policies.
The best-case scenario in Carr’s mind? The community gets a better understanding of how the sheriff’s office operates.
“We’re following the law,” he told KHOL. “For me, it’s a way for us to be transparent with the community.”
His department does not have an official 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Eight other counties in Wyoming do, along with a few towns and the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
But Carr does hold immigrants arrested by his office who are wanted by ICE for up to an additional 48 hours in the Teton County jail to allow federal officers to remove them.
Immigration has become a top issue for the sheriff’s election. In November, Carr will likely face independent candidate Chris Glenn, who is running to reverse Carr’s policy, and his deputy Eric Snow, running as a Republican who said he wouldn’t change the hold policy.
Carr will run unopposed in the Democratic primary after his one-time opponent, Alberto Rojas, dropped out and took a job Carr offered him while Rojas was still a candidate.
The results of the audit are not expected until after the Aug. 18 primary election. Organizers with JH Action Coalition want to better understand the department’s policies and their impact on the community.
Carr said he would go back to honoring judicial warrants only – a policy he changed in 2025 – if state law changes. That’s a blow to activists like Craig Logan, a JH Action leader, who want Carr to pause holding immigrants with ICE warrants during the review.
“There is a pervasive level of fear in the Latinx community in Teton County,” Logan said. “There is a feeling of unfairness from a lot of the residents of Teton County when we see now over 160 transfers to ICE in a very short amount of time compared to what had been going on previously.”
JH Action is pushing for a review of culture, training protocol and body cam footage, among other accountability measures. Organizers have identified six potential independent assessors for the audit. County commissioners voted at the end of June to pay up to $70,000 for the study.
Reviews of policing practices in other communities, especially cities, have yielded policy changes that gave residents “increased confidence in law enforcement,” said Michael Gennaco, founding principal of OIR Group, one of the auditors recommended by JH Action.
The review is expected to examine federal and local policies, quantitative enforcement data, and a qualitative review of how those actions are impacting the community, including Jackson Hole’s large portion of immigrants, Commission Chair Mark Newcomb said.
Unlike Carr, Newcomb thinks study results could impact how quickly ICE reaches detained immigrants.
“We’re looking for hard facts and evidence that the sheriff could change policy for the betterment of the community,” he said. “If the sheriff knows that the community is with him and has his back, then he could implement a change if that’s what the evidence suggests is needed.”
Newcomb said the audit is worth completing, regardless of if Carr changes policies. He said he understands that less work with federal officials could inadvertently lead to a larger ICE presence in the county.
In May, KHOL obtained data from the sheriff’s department that showed the majority of those who were held for ICE were arrested for driving-related charges, including driving without a license. The information did not include people’s race or age.
“Hopefully through this process, we can all come to a better understanding and really support our hardworking immigrant community,” Carr said. “At the end, the message is: Don’t get arrested.”
