St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's office says it's confident that an appeals court will reverse St. Joseph Superior Judge Jenny Pitts Manier and uphold the will of the General Assembly — that the office can sue communities that it believes offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants.

In a statement he released Monday, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita says St. Joseph Superior Judge Jenny Pitts Manier made a "novel and incorrect legal conclusion" in dismissing his immigration-related lawsuit against Sheriff Bill Redman.

St. Joseph Superior Judge Jenny Pitts Manier granted Sheriff Bill Redman's motion to dismiss, finding that Rokita lacks standing to bring the complaint, he offered no evidence that Redman has a policy or practice of stopping staff from cooperating with ICE, and a state attorney general can't force local police to help ICE.

Police agencies throughout St. Joseph County jointly asked for federal help to fight drug trafficking but said Tuesday they weren't ready to talk publicly about the effort.

St. Joseph Superior Judge Mark Telloyan, a former Republican county council member, agreed to take the case Wednesday but Redman's attorneys Friday filed a motion asking for someone else.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's immigration-related lawsuit against St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman now goes to Superior Judge Mark Telloyan, after Circuit Judge John Broden removed himself to avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest that Broden didn't disclose.

Citing a potential conflict of interest that he doesn't disclose, St. Joseph County Circuit Judge John Broden has recused himself from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's immigration-related lawsuit against Sheriff Bill Redman.

St. Joseph Circuit Judge John Broden said he'll rule by Aug. 18 whether Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's immigration-related lawsuit against Sheriff Bill Redman can proceed.

St. Joseph County Jail officials say drugs, hidden in body cavities by people before they're booked in, continue to be a problem.

Rokita's lawsuit accuses Redman of breaking state law by barring officers from telling federal immigration enforcement officials when undocumented immigrants are in the jail, and refusing to hold them longer for federal agents. Redman denies the allegations and has asked a judge to dismiss the suit.