Montgomery Processing Center

ICE Transfer Is Not Final Release

If a person leaves the Mac Sim Butler Montgomery County Detention Facility because ICE assumed custody, the sheriff's record may show a release or transfer from county custody. That does not answer whether the person is in the community. ICE custody is separate from county jail, ADOC prison, BOP custody, and ABPP supervision.

Use the ICE detainee locator for current ICE detention. USA.gov explains that the locator can be searched by A-number or by name, country of birth, and birth date. If the sheriff's release record points to ICE, keep the county release record and ICE custody check separate.

How to Check ICE Custody

1. Search ICE's detainee locator by A-number when available.
2. If no A-number is known, use the name, country-of-birth, and birth-date search path described by USA.gov.
3. Call the facility number listed by ICE when the person is believed to be housed at Montgomery Processing Center.
4. Use the Montgomery County release search path only for the earlier county booking or transfer record.
5. Use court or counsel channels for immigration-case details that do not appear in a public locator.

ICE Records and Contact

About the Processing Center

The Montgomery Processing Center belongs in this site's facility map because Montgomery County release questions sometimes involve detainers or transfers. Its records answer immigration custody status, not whether a local criminal case is over. For the local criminal case, check the sheriff booking/release record and the Montgomery court docket; for ICE custody, check ICE.

ICE Locator Search Details

The ICE detainee locator is the first public check for current ICE custody. The research notes two search paths: A-number, or name with country of birth and birth date. The A-number route is usually more precise because names can be common, misspelled, or entered differently across systems. A no-result search does not prove there was no ICE custody; it may mean the person is outside the locator's scope, recently moved, entered differently, or no longer detained.

ICE custody should be separated from Montgomery County release records. If the sheriff's office released a person to ICE, the county booking lifecycle ended, but immigration custody may have continued. The county release record can document the local transfer. The ICE locator and facility contact can document current ICE custody if the person is still detained. Immigration court or counsel channels may be needed for case information that is not available through a public detention locator.

Field Office and Facility Routing

The research lists the ICE Montgomery field office at 500 Interstate Park Drive, Suite 529, Montgomery, AL 36109, with phone 334-260-6305. That field-office contact is separate from the public county jail and from Alabama state correctional agencies. Use ICE contacts when the custody question is immigration detention, removal proceedings, or transfer after an ICE hold. Use the sheriff and court only for the state or local criminal case that preceded the transfer.

The Montgomery Processing Center page should not imply that every person missing from the county roster went to ICE. Roster absence can mean bond, ROR, dismissal, sentence completion, transfer to another county, ADOC intake, USMS pickup, ICE transfer, or another administrative event. ICE becomes the correct path only when the record, family contact, court information, or agency response points to immigration custody.

Record Boundaries After Transfer

When a person moves from county custody to ICE, there are at least two records to reconcile. The sheriff's record may show the booking number, charges, bond or hold information, and release or transfer notation from the Montgomery County Detention Facility. ICE records may show current immigration detention or release from ICE custody. Those records answer different questions and may update at different times.

For a complete timeline, start with the booking or arrest date, then check the court docket for the local criminal case, then follow the ICE locator or ICE contact if a transfer occurred. If the local case was dismissed or resolved but ICE custody continued, the court outcome and ICE custody status can look inconsistent unless the systems are kept separate. The safest wording is that the person was released from county custody to another authority, not that the person was released to the community.

When ICE Is Not the Answer

The Montgomery Processing Center page should be used only when the facts point to immigration custody. Montgomery's research shows many other release paths: county bond or ROR, Community Corrections pretrial supervision, court dismissal, short-sentence completion, ADOC intake, federal marshal custody, BOP custody, or another local transfer. If the only clue is that a person disappeared from Current Inmates, start with the sheriff booking number and the court docket before assuming ICE.

If the court record shows a pending state case with bond conditions, the local case is still the main source. If the sheriff record shows release to ADOC, use ADOC, VNS, and ABPP. If it shows federal custody, use USMS and BOP. ICE becomes the correct follow-up only when a detainer, agency transfer note, locator result, or direct agency response supports that path.