Polk County – Following recent Traffic enforcement initiatives, which also involved immigration detainment’s in Polk County, families and community members have raised concerns about how to find out where their loved ones may have been taken. Because these operations involved multiple agencies — including the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the process for locating a detainee depends on whether they were booked locally or turned over to federal custody.
The first step for anyone searching is to check the Polk County Jail inmate inquiry system (Polk Jail Inquiry) . Individuals who were arrested on state or local charges will appear in the jail database with a booking photo, charges, and custody status. If a mugshot and record appear there, loved ones should contact the Sheriff’s Office or county jail directly for more information about visitation, bond, or release procedures.
If the individual does not appear in the county jail system, it is likely they were placed on an immigration hold and transferred to federal custody. In these cases, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Online Detainee Locator System is the primary tool for families. The database is searchable by name, date of birth, or alien registration number (if available). The online system is available at locator.ice.gov.
For cases where the online locator does not provide results, families can also call the Tampa Homeland Security Investigations office directly. The Tampa office oversees northern and western Florida, including Polk County. The contact information is:
HSI Tampa
2203 North Lois Avenue, Suite 300
Tampa, FL 33607
Phone: (813) 357-7000
Fax: (813) 348-1877
Because detainees may be moved quickly between local facilities and federal detention sites, families may need to use both the Polk County jail system and the ICE locator in order to confirm a loved one’s status. While the process can feel confusing, these two resources — county records first, then ICE’s federal locator system — provide the most direct path to finding information.
