Dakota County Sheriff Office

Dakota County Sheriff Office is an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facility located in Dakota City, Nebraska. It falls under the St. Paul Field Office ERO field office area of responsibility.

Facility quick reference

How to locate or contact a detainee

To locate someone in ICE custody, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov. You will need the person’s A-number (Alien Registration Number) and country of birth, or their full name, country of birth, and date of birth.

To ask whether someone is held here, and to leave an urgent message for a detainee, ICE publishes one number: (402) 987-2176. Give the detainee’s full name, alien registration number (A-number), and your name and a phone number where you can be reached; the facility passes the message on. ICE lists this facility under the St. Paul Field Office, but names the Omaha office, (402) 536-4861, for bond information, for identifying a detainee’s deportation officer, and before sending packages. Detainees cannot receive incoming calls — they place outgoing calls themselves. Have the person’s biographical information ready when you call (full legal name and any aliases, date of birth, and country of birth). Contact and visitation hours vary by facility — confirm current hours by calling (402) 987-2176 or checking the official ICE page linked above.

Visiting in person

(checked October 16, 2026)

• Call (402) 987-2176 to schedule visits.
• Each detainee receives two (2) one-hour blocks per week; each visit counts as one (1) hour regardless of duration.
• Visitors under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and provide proof of that relationship; visitors must carry government-issued photo identification.
• ICE says all family or other social visits are non-contact, and that clergy may visit at any time but must make prior arrangements with the Chaplain’s Office (checked October 19, 2026).
• Dakota County’s own Corrections page lists (402) 987-2170 (option #4) for scheduling visits and says all visits are monitored and must be scheduled 48 hours in advance (checked October 19, 2026).
• The county’s visitation rules sheet says only people on the detainee’s visitation list may visit, that the list can only be changed on the first day of each month (visitors under 18 do not need to be on it but must be with a parent), that visitors must register at least 15 minutes before the visit, and that all visits are recorded (checked October 17, 2026).
• ICE says free public parking is available at the facility (checked October 19, 2026).

Sending mail, commissary funds, and personal items

Letters require the last four digits of the A-number and the sender’s name and address (checked October 16, 2026). See the mailing format below. This facility’s own ICE page says incoming mail “is not read upon opening, only inspected by the delivering officer” and that detainees may seal their own outgoing letters. ICE’s national standard allows more than that. Under ICE’s National Detention Standards, Revised 2019, §5.1(E), incoming general mail is opened and inspected for contraband, and outgoing general mail may be inspected and read if it is addressed to another detainee or staff have reason to believe it threatens the facility’s security or order, endangers someone, or could facilitate criminal activity. Only special correspondence — mail to or from attorneys and other legal representatives, courts and judges, government attorneys, embassies and consulates, the President and Vice President of the United States, members of Congress, the Department of Justice (including the immigration courts), DHS (including ICE/ERO, IHSC, CRCL and the DHS Inspector General), grievance administrators, and the news media — may not be read or copied by staff. Incoming special correspondence is inspected for contraband in the detainee’s presence; outgoing special correspondence is not opened, inspected or read, and if a need exists, any inspection takes place in the detainee’s presence. The standard limits any inspection to detecting physical contraband and confirming that enclosures qualify as special correspondence. Mail counts as special correspondence only if the envelope unambiguously identifies the title and office of the sender (incoming mail) or of the addressee (outgoing mail). Rules for commissary (account) deposits and permitted personal items vary by facility, and so does the number that handles them — ICE names a separate facility mail clerk on some facility pages. This facility’s deposit route, accepted form of payment and contacts are in the Sending Items to Detainees section of its own ICE page (linked above).

What ICE publishes for this facility’s mail, money, and packages

(checked October 16, 2026)

• Mailing format:

Detainee Name (last 4 of A#)
PO Box 305
Dakota City, Nebraska 68731

• Letters require the last four digits of the A-number and the sender’s name and address.
• Deposits can be made by calling 1-877-810-0914 or through United States Postal Service, referencing the detainee’s name; do not give money directly to the detainee.
• ICE cautions against mailing cash.
• ICE’s page also lists the website www.jailatm.com for account deposits (checked October 19, 2026).
• ICE says the jail will not accept these items through the mail: packages, obscene or pornographic materials, personal checks, cashier’s checks, postage stamps or stamped envelopes, any type of food, or periodicals not sent directly from the publisher (checked October 19, 2026).
• ICE says detainees being removed from the United States are allowed one small piece of luggage; if a detainee has none, luggage can be sent after approval from the Supervisory Deportation Officer, and no electronic devices are accepted (checked October 19, 2026).
• Travel or release items require ICE Deportation Officer approval; contact Omaha Field Office at (402) 536-4861 before sending packages.

The county’s inmate handbook, updated October 14, 2014, also states:

• The county handbook limits personal phone calls to fifteen (15) minutes so other inmates can use the phone.
• The county handbook permits commissary orders once per week through the facility kiosk during the inmate’s designated scheduled time.
• The county handbook defines indigent inmates as those with no account money for at least one week; it allows an indigent kit at no initial expense and bills the kit to the account if funds arrive.

What Dakota County’s inmate handbook says about personal property

The county’s inmate handbook (updated October 14, 2014) limits what can be kept in the living area to three books, two magazines, up to six program pamphlets (religious, NA or AA), four photographs (no Polaroid or nude photographs), and two pencils and one tablet no larger than 8½ x 11 inches; no wire-bound notebooks. It says new books or magazines brought in have to be exchanged for items already held when the limit would be exceeded.

Legal access, attorneys, and immigration court information

Detainees have the right to speak with an attorney, and attorney–client visits and calls are confidential. For information about a case before the immigration court (EOIR), EOIR’s automated line 1-800-898-7180 (toll-free, 24 hours a day, English and Spanish) gives the next hearing date and case status; callers enter the 9 digits of the A-number, without the letter A (EOIR, checked October 24, 2026). For a matter before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the main line of EOIR (the Justice Department agency the BIA belongs to) is (703) 305-0289. Applications for relief from removal must be filed directly with the immigration court handling the case. If you cannot afford an attorney, the immigration court can provide a list of pro bono legal service providers — see the related resources below.

Booking legal visits, video calls, and legal calls

(checked October 16, 2026)

• Attorney visiting hours: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• Legal phone calls: (402) 987-2176, subject to available time slots.
• Legal representatives may schedule VTC meetings at (402) 987-2170.
• Make VTC and legal-call appointments 24 hours ahead. Slots run 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in 60-minute increments unless more time is requested.
• A legal representative may request multiple VTC appointments, but may not have more than one 60-minute appointment with a detainee per day.
• Only legal representatives, legal assistants and interpreters may participate; no family or friends.
• ICE’s page says that when timely communication through the mail is not possible, the facility administrator may, at their discretion, allow a reasonable amount of electronic written communication. ICE lists fax (402) 987-2173 for legal correspondence from legal representatives; the cover letter must give the detainee’s full name, alien number, the sender’s return fax number and the total number of pages. ICE says the fax is delivered in a sealed envelope and inspected for contraband, but not read (checked October 19, 2026).
• ICE lists StPaul.Outreach@ice.dhs.gov for case-information requests about people held here; ICE says this mailbox does not accept applications for stay of removal or case appeals (checked October 19, 2026).
• ICE says the facility has tablets and points to prodigytel.com for information on sending a non-confidential message (checked October 19, 2026).

Feedback, complaints, and oversight

To report a concern about conditions at this facility or the conduct of an ICE or contract employee, contact the ERO St. Paul Field Office that oversees this facility, or file a complaint with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL). On its own Make a Civil Rights Complaint page DHS publishes one channel — the online portal at engage.dhs.gov/crcl-complaint; CBP additionally publishes, for the same office, the e-mail address CRCL@dhs.gov, fax (202) 401-4708, and the postal address DHS/CRCL, Compliance Branch, 2707 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Mail Stop #0190, Washington, DC 20528-0190. The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline is 1-800-323-8603.

Inside the jail, the county’s inmate handbook (updated October 14, 2014) says a grievance must be filed on the appropriate form within 48 hours of the event, naming the problem, the people involved and the action requested; the Director of Corrections or a designee gives at minimum a written response, the person may ask to speak to the Director in person, and the Director’s decision is final.

287(g) agreements in Dakota County

This facility is in Dakota County, Nebraska (per the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder for the address ICE publishes). ICE's 287(g) participating-agencies workbook, dated October 9, 2026, records 2 agreements with agencies in that county:

Source: ICE, 287(g) program (participating-agencies workbook). A 287(g) agreement is between ICE and the law-enforcement agency; on its own it says nothing about this facility. What each model means · all agreements by state.

Related procedural resources

• Know Your Rights — what to do if ICE detains you
• EOIR immigration court schedules and procedures
• BIA-recognized legal-aid organizations in Nebraska
• Other ICE detention facilities in Nebraska
• All facilities under the St. Paul Field Office