![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Sheriff-Grady-Judd.jpg?resize=640%2C448\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhile Sheriff Judd has long been a vocal supporter of ICE, his recent public stance has actually been a bit of a critique regarding federal recruitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Recruitment “Poaching” Dispute<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nLast year, Sheriff Judd expressed significant frustration toward the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for trying to recruit his local deputies to join ICE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- The Conflict:<\/strong> DHS sent recruitment emails directly to local deputies, offering $50,000 signing bonuses<\/strong> to jump ship to federal service.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Judd’s Response:<\/strong> He famously called the tactic “Bush league” and “biting the hand that feeds you,” arguing that Polk County spends a lot of money training these officers only for the federal government to try and “poach” them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRecent 2026 Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAs of March 2026, the situation has evolved due to shifts in federal policy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Airport Deployment:<\/strong> President Trump recently announced that ICE agents will be deployed to U.S. airports<\/strong> starting today (Monday, March 23, 2026) to assist TSA agents during the ongoing partial government shutdown. While this is a federal move, it highlights the current “all-hands-on-deck” approach for federal agents.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Judd\u2019s Clarification:<\/strong> Just last week (March 17, 2026), Sheriff Judd held a press conference to clarify his stance on immigration. While he reaffirmed that his office “wholeheartedly supports and endorses ICE,”<\/strong> he and the State Immigration Enforcement Council are now advocating for a more “common sense” approach that prioritizes deporting criminals while suggesting a potential path for law-abiding undocumented residents who contribute to the community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Current Recruitment in Polk<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIf you or someone you know is looking to work with the “Green Team” in Polk County, the Sheriff\u2019s Office is currently running its own heavy recruitment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Sign-on Bonuses:<\/strong> They are offering $5,000 for new law enforcement officers and a $2,000\u2013$5,000 moving allowance for those relocating to Polk County.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Trainee Programs:<\/strong> They have open applications for Deputy Sheriff Trainees<\/strong> for their December 2026 academy class, which includes a $3,000 monthly stipend while you train.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The timing of your question is spot on, as there\u2019s been a lot of conversation lately about the relationship between Sheriff Grady Judd\u2019s office and federal agencies like ICE. While… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"23","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxOVwvMDdcL1NoZXJpZmYtR3JhZHktSnVkZC5qcGc_Zml0PTY0MCUyQzQ0OCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkdyYWR5IEp1ZGQgaW52aXRlcyBJQ0UsIFRTQSBhZ2VudHMgdG8gY29tZSB0byB3b3JrIHdpdGggUG9sayBDb3VudHkiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.XpdMnAvLdjk9z76Vv5G9tj_pqkdbAVwf3oDG6Z1_VN8MQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[14169,14170],"class_list":["post-64036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sheriffs-corner","tag-grady-judd-invites-ice","tag-tsa-agents-to-come-to-work-with-polk-county"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64037,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions\/64037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\n
Recent 2026 Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAs of March 2026, the situation has evolved due to shifts in federal policy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Airport Deployment:<\/strong> President Trump recently announced that ICE agents will be deployed to U.S. airports<\/strong> starting today (Monday, March 23, 2026) to assist TSA agents during the ongoing partial government shutdown. While this is a federal move, it highlights the current “all-hands-on-deck” approach for federal agents.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Judd\u2019s Clarification:<\/strong> Just last week (March 17, 2026), Sheriff Judd held a press conference to clarify his stance on immigration. While he reaffirmed that his office “wholeheartedly supports and endorses ICE,”<\/strong> he and the State Immigration Enforcement Council are now advocating for a more “common sense” approach that prioritizes deporting criminals while suggesting a potential path for law-abiding undocumented residents who contribute to the community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Current Recruitment in Polk<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIf you or someone you know is looking to work with the “Green Team” in Polk County, the Sheriff\u2019s Office is currently running its own heavy recruitment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Sign-on Bonuses:<\/strong> They are offering $5,000 for new law enforcement officers and a $2,000\u2013$5,000 moving allowance for those relocating to Polk County.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Trainee Programs:<\/strong> They have open applications for Deputy Sheriff Trainees<\/strong> for their December 2026 academy class, which includes a $3,000 monthly stipend while you train.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The timing of your question is spot on, as there\u2019s been a lot of conversation lately about the relationship between Sheriff Grady Judd\u2019s office and federal agencies like ICE. While… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"23","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxOVwvMDdcL1NoZXJpZmYtR3JhZHktSnVkZC5qcGc_Zml0PTY0MCUyQzQ0OCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkdyYWR5IEp1ZGQgaW52aXRlcyBJQ0UsIFRTQSBhZ2VudHMgdG8gY29tZSB0byB3b3JrIHdpdGggUG9sayBDb3VudHkiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.XpdMnAvLdjk9z76Vv5G9tj_pqkdbAVwf3oDG6Z1_VN8MQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[14169,14170],"class_list":["post-64036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sheriffs-corner","tag-grady-judd-invites-ice","tag-tsa-agents-to-come-to-work-with-polk-county"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64037,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions\/64037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Current Recruitment in Polk<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIf you or someone you know is looking to work with the “Green Team” in Polk County, the Sheriff\u2019s Office is currently running its own heavy recruitment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Sign-on Bonuses:<\/strong> They are offering $5,000 for new law enforcement officers and a $2,000\u2013$5,000 moving allowance for those relocating to Polk County.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Trainee Programs:<\/strong> They have open applications for Deputy Sheriff Trainees<\/strong> for their December 2026 academy class, which includes a $3,000 monthly stipend while you train.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The timing of your question is spot on, as there\u2019s been a lot of conversation lately about the relationship between Sheriff Grady Judd\u2019s office and federal agencies like ICE. While… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"23","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxOVwvMDdcL1NoZXJpZmYtR3JhZHktSnVkZC5qcGc_Zml0PTY0MCUyQzQ0OCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkdyYWR5IEp1ZGQgaW52aXRlcyBJQ0UsIFRTQSBhZ2VudHMgdG8gY29tZSB0byB3b3JrIHdpdGggUG9sayBDb3VudHkiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.XpdMnAvLdjk9z76Vv5G9tj_pqkdbAVwf3oDG6Z1_VN8MQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[14169,14170],"class_list":["post-64036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sheriffs-corner","tag-grady-judd-invites-ice","tag-tsa-agents-to-come-to-work-with-polk-county"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64037,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions\/64037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The timing of your question is spot on, as there\u2019s been a lot of conversation lately about the relationship between Sheriff Grady Judd\u2019s office and federal agencies like ICE. While… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"23","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxOVwvMDdcL1NoZXJpZmYtR3JhZHktSnVkZC5qcGc_Zml0PTY0MCUyQzQ0OCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkdyYWR5IEp1ZGQgaW52aXRlcyBJQ0UsIFRTQSBhZ2VudHMgdG8gY29tZSB0byB3b3JrIHdpdGggUG9sayBDb3VudHkiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.XpdMnAvLdjk9z76Vv5G9tj_pqkdbAVwf3oDG6Z1_VN8MQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[14169,14170],"class_list":["post-64036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sheriffs-corner","tag-grady-judd-invites-ice","tag-tsa-agents-to-come-to-work-with-polk-county"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64037,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64036\/revisions\/64037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}