The Butler County commissioners will review the county’s liability insurance after learning its current coverage soon may not cover claims arising from situations where sheriff deputies assist in immigration enforcement.

The decision to review providers came Wednesday, April 8, after commissioners received a March 10 memo from the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, known as PCoRP, saying the coverage changes will go into effect June 1, if the PCoRP board formally adopts the changes at a meeting Friday.

The motion approved by the commissioners says the purpose of the review is to identify coverage gaps and recommend future actions for responding to any gaps they may identify.

The changes will exclude from coverage multijurisdictional task forces or teams including drug task forces, warrant service, undercover investigations, school resource officers and any employee acting under the direction of any federal agency dealing with immigration enforcement, said Leslie Osche, the commissioners’ chairwoman.

Osche and Commissioner Kevin Boozel disagreed on how they interpreted the memo, but they and fellow Commissioner Kim Geyer voted to review their policy from the PCoRP, which is administered by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

“The definition of covered party (the county) will be updated to denote that covered party does not intend to cover agreements with immigration enforcement,” Osche said.

Boozel, however, said he interpreted the memo differently. If the commissioners had approved the memorandum of understanding Sheriff Mike Slupe signed in June to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the deputies’ activities would have fallen under the scope and duties of the sheriff, he said.

“They said right up front, we’re not covered unless we pass it by this board,” Boozel said.

The 287(g) agreement between the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was never approved by the county commissioners. Rather, Sheriff Mike Slupe signed the agreement on behalf of his department.

Slupe did not attend the meeting, but was contacted afterward.

“We are seeking alternate liability insurance,” Slupe said. “We’re still going to do what we’re doing. PCoRP made a political decision not to cover any task force, not just us.”

He said he believes his deputies had been covered by PCoRP’s liability insurance.

According to Geyer, a March 12 memo from PCoRP said people acting under the 287(g) agreements to assist ICE are acting under the direction and control of federal authorities, and are covered by federal insurance.

The Butler Eagle did not immediately acquire a copy of the memo.

She said the Homeland Security Act of 2002, a product of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to enter into written agreements with state or counties to allow qualified officers to perform certain functions of an immigration officer.

“Congress believed this to be necessary and essential to securing the safety and welfare of the nation,” Geyer said.

The agreement Slupe signed authorizes deputies to perform certain immigration officer functions, she said.

“When an officer is acting in conjunction with ICE, they’re considered a federal employee, and because they’re considered a federal employee, they fall under federal insurance,” Geyer said.

She said deputies are treated as federal employees under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people who are injured or whose property was damaged by wrongful or negligent acts of a federal employee acting in the scope of his or her official duties to file a claim with the government for reimbursement.

“Federal law trumps state law. No pun intended,” Geyer said.

In addition, she said officers working with ICE will be fully reimbursed for the annual salary and benefits of each eligible trained 287(g) officer, including overtime coverage up to 25% of the officer’s annual salary, and law enforcement agencies assisting ICE are eligible for quarterly monetary performance awards.

Boozel insisted that Slupe should have brought the ICE agreement to the commissioners for a vote. In previous commissioners’ meetings, Boozel has asked for the memo to be discussed in public.

“I’m saying liability and risk is what we should be here working toward and making sure that our taxpayers are not hung on the hook,” Boozels aid.

Geyer said the liability coverage is being denied because the 287(g) agreements fall under the supervision of the federal government and not the county. The lack of approval from the commissioners is not the reason the coverage is being denied, she said.