Key Points

• Spokane County Superior Court Judge Marla Polin ruled on Friday, 13 November 2026, that the Adams County Sheriff’s Office violated Washington’s 2019 Keep Washington Working Act by coordinating with federal immigration enforcement.
• The court order bars the eastern Washington sheriff’s office from continuing to assist civil immigration agents, requires the agency to revise its internal policies, and mandates deputy training to comply with state law.
• Judge Polin found that between 2019 and mid-2023, Adams County routinely sent nonpublic in-custody inmate lists—including scheduled release dates—to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol).
• Court findings documented that between May 2021 and March 2023, the sheriff’s office released at least half a dozen individuals directly to Border Patrol officials from jail, including three people with no local charges pending against them.
• Washington Attorney General Nick Brown hailed the decision—the first judicial ruling upholding the constitutionality of the Keep Washington Working Act—while the Adams County Sheriff’s Office announced plans to appeal the verdict.

Spokane (Evening Washington News) November 14, 2026 – A Washington state judge ruled on Friday that the Adams County Sheriff’s Office illegally assisted federal immigration enforcement over at least four years, violating the state’s 2019 Keep Washington Working Act. Issued by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Marla Polin following a July 2026 trial, the landmark order prohibits the eastern Washington sheriff’s office from coordinating with civil immigration agents and mandates policy revisions and staff training. The ruling marks the first time a court has upheld the constitutionality of the state’s sanctuary law, rejecting Adams County’s Supremacy Clause challenge as Attorney General Nick Brown welcomed the verdict and county officials announced plans to appeal.

What Did Judge Marla Polin Rule Regarding Adams County’s Immigration Coordination?

As reported by Washington State Standard and News From The States, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Marla Polin ruled on Friday, 13 November 2026, that Adams County violated Washington state law by providing nonpublic information and operational assistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents.

Under Judge Polin’s order, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office is barred from continuing to coordinate with civil immigration authorities. The court further ordered the county to revise its departmental policies to align strictly with the Keep Washington Working Act and to train its deputies on the updated rules.

In her written order, Judge Polin rejected constitutional challenges mounted by Adams County, ruling that the Keep Washington Working Act neither violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause nor unlawfully discriminates against the federal government. As reported by The Center Square via Big Country News Connection, the court cited federal precedent to note that while the state statute may make federal enforcement more difficult, “refusing to help is not the same as impeding”. Judge Polin also emphasised the broader legal significance of defining “what the guard rails … are of the Keep Washington Working Act” to prevent future disputes between state and local authorities.

How Did the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Violate the Keep Washington Working Act?

The ruling stems from a civil lawsuit filed in March 2025 by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, who accused the Adams County Sheriff’s Office of unlawfully aiding federal immigration enforcement. Following a bench trial held in July 2026, Judge Polin found that the sheriff’s office engaged in unlawful collaboration for at least four years.

According to court findings detailed by Washington State Standard and The Center Square, the sheriff’s office committed multiple violations of the state statute:

• Routine Sharing of Nonpublic Custody Lists: Adams County routinely transmitted nonpublic jail inmate lists—including individuals’ scheduled release dates—to ICE and Border Patrol agents, enabling federal officers to take custody of inmates immediately upon release. “Adams County violated KWW each and every time it sent a new in-custody list to federal immigration officials, as it did on a routine basis between 2019 and mid-2023,” Judge Polin wrote in her Friday order.
• Unlawful Detention on Civil Warrants: Sheriff’s office personnel held individuals in county jail based solely on civil immigration warrants or administrative detainers rather than judicial warrants.
• In-Custody Interviews and Direct Transfers: Officials permitted federal immigration agents to interview detainees inside the jail and make arrests inside the facility’s secure booking area. Between May 2021 and March 2023, the sheriff’s office released at least half a dozen people directly to Border Patrol agents from jail, three of whom had no pending local criminal charges.

Court papers cited in the proceedings highlighted one specific case in which a Border Patrol agent was permitted to question two individuals incarcerated at the county jail without informing them that they were speaking with a federal immigration officer. Upon their release, a Border Patrol agent was waiting to detain them. Earlier in the summer of 2026, Adams County agreed to a $95,000 settlement with one of the men after he filed a separate lawsuit over his transfer to federal custody.

What Have Attorney General Nick Brown and Sheriff Dale Wagner Said About the Decision?

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown praised Friday’s ruling as a decisive affirmation of state law and community trust. As reported by Washington State Standard, Brown stated: “This is a victory for the rights and dignity of all Washingtonians, regardless of where they were born, and an affirmation that local law enforcement cannot be co-opted by the federal government”.

In a press release issued by the Attorney General’s Office, Brown added: “Today’s ruling allows our state to continue building trust and confidence between law enforcement and immigrant communities as the federal administration undermines those efforts with its draconian policies”.

According to reporting by journalist Cheryl Schweizer of the Columbia Basin Herald, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office stated on Friday afternoon that it intends to appeal Judge Polin’s decision. Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment from Washington State Standard, while the county’s legal counsel, Joel Ard, referred media inquiries to Sheriff Wagner.

How Did Negotiations Between Washington State and Adams County Collapse?

Court records and statements from the Attorney General’s Office trace the dispute back to the passage of the Keep Washington Working Act by the Washington Legislature in 2019. Following the law’s enactment, Sheriff Dale Wagner did not instruct his deputies to alter their practices, despite formal compliance guidance issued by the state Attorney General’s Office that other county sheriffs across Washington adopted.

In late 2022, state attorneys notified Sheriff Wagner that his office’s practices appeared to violate the Keep Washington Working Act. Two years of negotiations followed between state officials and Adams County in an effort to bring the agency into voluntary compliance. During that negotiation period, Wagner instructed jail personnel to halt sending inmate custody lists to federal immigration authorities.

However, according to Attorney General Brown’s office, Adams County’s legal posture shifted after President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. In February 2025, county attorneys sent a letter to Brown asserting that “Adams County has obligations under federal law that directly conflict” with the state statute. Three months later, in May 2025, Sheriff Wagner sent an email to numerous other county sheriffs across Washington urging them to “lawfully partner with the federal government” and defy the state law.

Background of the Particular Development

Enacted in 2019 with bipartisan legislative support, the Keep Washington Working Act prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from inquiring into an individual’s immigration status, detaining people based solely on civil immigration holds without a judicial warrant, or sharing nonpublic personal information—such as release dates and home addresses—with ICE or Border Patrol. The statute was designed to separate local policing from federal civil immigration enforcement so that immigrant residents would feel safe reporting crimes and serving as witnesses.

Adams County, located in rural southeastern Washington with its county seat in Ritzville, has a population of approximately 20,000 residents. Its regional economy relies heavily on agriculture and food processing, sectors that employ substantial numbers of immigrant workers, including individuals without legal immigration status. Since January 2025, the Trump administration has pursued an expansive national deportation campaign and warned state and local jurisdictions with sanctuary laws that they could face federal funding cuts or legal challenges, sharpening constitutional friction between federal immigration authorities and state governments such as Washington.

Prediction

How This Ruling Can Affect Washington Law Enforcement, Immigrant Communities, and Local Governments

Judge Marla Polin’s ruling—the first judicial interpretation defining concrete operational boundaries under the Keep Washington Working Act—is set to influence legal and policing practices across Washington state:

• County Sheriffs and Jail Administrators Across Washington: Until this decision, no Washington court had issued a written ruling specifying which jail-level interactions with ICE and Border Patrol violate the 2019 statute. Sheriff’s offices and municipal jails statewide now have explicit judicial precedent establishing that transmitting routine inmate custody rosters, disclosing release dates, and permitting unannounced federal interviews inside secure jail facilities are unlawful under state law.
• Immigrant Residents and Agricultural Workers in Eastern Washington: For residents and agricultural labourers in Adams County and neighbouring rural counties, the injunction ensures that routine booking into a county jail will no longer trigger automatic notification or direct transfer to federal immigration authorities without a judge-signed criminal warrant.
• Appellate Courts and State-Federal Legal Battles: Because the Adams County Sheriff’s Office has announced its intention to appeal, the case is likely to advance to the Washington Court of Appeals or the Washington Supreme Court, where appellate judges will review whether the Keep Washington Working Act withstands federal preemption and Supremacy Clause challenges.