Florida Just Handed Collier County Sheriff's Office $8.25 Million for Immigration Enforcement. Here's What It Buys.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia traveled to Naples Thursday to personally present reimbursement checks to four Southwest Florida law enforcement agencies totaling nearly $9 million in state funding for immigration enforcement efforts.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office received the largest single disbursement, more than 91% of the total, reflecting CCSO's scale and its active role in federal immigration enforcement operations as a 287(g) partner agency.

Ingoglia stated the reimbursement is intended to compensate local agencies for taking on additional immigration enforcement responsibilities alongside state and federal partners. Florida distributed $24 million in reimbursement funding to agencies across the state this week alone.

CCSO Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said the more than $8.25 million will be used for technology upgrades, equipment, and training. He was specific about some of the planned improvements.

A new communications system will allow local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to communicate more efficiently through two-way radio, a practical upgrade that affects not just immigration operations but everyday law enforcement coordination across jurisdictions. RFID technology inside the Collier County Jail will be implemented to better track inmate movement, improving safety inside the facility.

Some of the money reimburses previous purchases already made. The remainder funds additional training and equipment not yet acquired.

Rambosk described the funding as important for the community broadly, not just for immigration enforcement specifically. The communications and jail technology improvements serve CCSO's full mission regardless of the program funding them.

The reimbursement money comes from Florida's ongoing $250 million immigration enforcement fund, which has been disbursed in multiple rounds throughout 2026. NNN previously covered an earlier round in which CCSO submitted the second-largest funding request in the state, $8.2 million, for radios, Skywatch mobile surveillance towers, inmate restraint equipment, and other operational resources.

The $8.25 million disbursement Thursday appears to be the approval and payment of that earlier request, or a closely related one.

To receive reimbursement, agencies must submit documentation showing eligible purchases or planned expenses before requests are reviewed and approved by the State Board of Immigration Enforcement. The approved uses include body cameras, radios, rapid DNA systems, transport vehicles, bulletproof vests, and bonus payments for officers certified under the federal 287(g) program.

Ingoglia put the rationale plainly: if the state asks local agencies to do more of the work, the funding needs to be there to support it.

Information sourced from WINK News reporting by Haley Jacobs and the Florida Chief Financial Officer's office.