Bradford County FL Commissioners Vote 3-2 to Advance Sabot IGSA Proposal for 3,000-Bed ICE Detention Campus

On January 15, 2026, the Bradford County, Florida Board of County Commissioners voted 3-2 to advance a proposal from the Bradford County Sheriff to develop a 3,000-bed ICE detention campus on county-owned land in Starke, FL. The proposal had been prepared by Sabot Consulting (Sabot Technologies, Inc.) in a December 16, 2025 briefing package and described a county-led Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) model.

What Happened / Key Facts

The Sabot Consulting proposal called for a phased buildout of the “Douglas Building” — a county-owned 100,000 sq ft warehouse on a 30-acre site off Highway 301 in Starke — into a 3,000-bed ICE detention campus over 38 weeks:

• Phase 1: 1,000 beds ($96.9M/year, $269/bed-day)
• Phase 2: 2,000 beds ($170.2M/year, $236/bed-day)
• Phase 3: 3,000 beds ($239.0M/year, $221/bed-day)

One-time mobilization cost for Phase 1: $8.9M. Facility design included “opaque fencing” and “muted external signage” to minimize visual prominence.

The Sheriff told commissioners the county faced a “$5.25 to $5.5 million shortfall in taxes” and cited Glades County and Baker County sheriff’s offices as working IGSA models “being fully reimbursed.” The Sheriff identified Sabot’s Daniel P. Marquith — a former Osceola County SO Chief Deputy — as the colleague who approached him with the opportunity.

The January 15 vote authorized next steps; it did not approve the lease or the IGSA contract.

Subsequent votes and status:

• January 30, 2026: Community opposition visible; protest organized.
• March 3, 2026: Bradford County Sheriff addressed commissioners publicly at a BOCC meeting, defending the proposal and referencing the ongoing “information-gathering and evaluation stage.”
• April 16–17, 2026: Commissioners declined to approve the five-year warehouse lease to the Sheriff’s Office and tabled the proposal. A competing offer from a local industrial tenant was cited; commissioners stated they do not expect the proposal to return before the board in 2026.

Current status (as of May 2026): Paused. The IGSA framework remains available to reconstitute; no formal rejection of the concept.

Why This Event Matters

Bradford County illustrates the county-IGSA pathway running in parallel with the federal Detention Reengineering Initiative warehouse-acquisition program. This model insulates the federal government from direct facility ownership — and from some oversight mechanisms — by routing capacity through county land and sheriff authority. Sabot Consulting’s documented approach (approach budget-pressured sheriff, pitch per-bed-day IGSA revenue, supply “communications discipline”) represents a scalable template; the same firm is active in Glades County FL and has been linked to other Florida counties.

The Bradford County proposal is one named node in a $38.3 billion ICE expansion projected to approach 135,000 beds by FY2029 (per the Feb 13, 2026 ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative memo and Brennan Center analysis). The per-bed-day rates proposed ($221–$269) are materially above the $70–$110 range at typical county jails, reflecting the premium extraction model documented in the financial spine.

Broader Context

The IGSA model has a documented historical footprint: the Glades County IGSA was reinstated in April 2025 and Sabot played a consulting role there. Baker County, FL operates ICE detention through GEO Group under a similar sheriff-led framework. The Bradford County case is distinct in that the site is county-owned land, removing even the real-estate acquisition step — the county becomes a passive landlord earning “cost recovery” while ICE pays the operator a per-bed-day rate.

Research Gaps

• Identity of proposed prime contractor/operator for the Bradford County facility (not disclosed in the Sabot proposal excerpt available)
• Environmental studies referenced by the Sheriff at the March 3 BOCC meeting
• DEP correspondence mentioned in the same session
• Whether Bradford County commissioners have formally voted on the IGSA concept (not just the warehouse lease) after April 2026
• Other Florida counties receiving Sabot IGSA pitches

Related Entries

• bradford-county-ice-detention-campus-proposal-sabot-consulting — source document
• sabot-consulting — consulting firm
• 2026-03-12–ice-detention-expansion-38-billion-mega-centers — the DRI memo reveal
• detention-expansion-math-38-billion-135k-beds-obbba-funding-mechanism — expansion-math research note
• detention-operator-financial-spine-corecivic-geo-bullish-outlook — who-profits mechanism
• 2026-04-07–the-blueprint-for-americas-detention — published RAMM piece
• accountability-darkness-as-detention-precondition — opaque-fencing design mechanism