A look at the outside of the Farmville ICE detention center.

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No, the town council didn’t approve a new detention facility last Wednesday. They also didn’t vote to expand the current ICE detention center in Farmville. Instead, during the Wednesday, June 4 meeting the council corrected an issue that had been around since 2011. 

First off, let’s go over the basics. Yes, there is a privately run Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility operating in Farmville, located at 508 Waterworks Road. It was given approval to open back in 2007 and is currently run by Abyon LLC. No, the Town of Farmville does not operate it or serve as a partner. The governmental partner for this center is Prince Edward County, but we’ll go into that more later.

However, because it is in Farmville, the facility has to follow the town’s zoning ordinances and permits. That’s what brought the group to Wednesday’s town council meeting, asking for a revised conditional use permit. 

An issue that dates back 

The problem was something that didn’t happen several years ago. As we said, in June 2007, the town council amended the zoning ordinance to allow “private or public detention or holding facilities for adult immigrant Level 1 detainees with a conditional use permit.” Based on those guidelines, the council granted a conditional use permit to Immigration Centers of America to open a privately run detention facility. 

Then on Sept. 14, 2011, in a joint meeting of the town council and planning commission, the company came back and asked for another zoning amendment. Rather than just Level 1 detainees, the company asked to be able to house any “adult immigrant detainees, with a conditional use permit.” That zoning change was approved by the council at the time. However, while the zoning ordinance was changed, the conditional use permit wasn’t. 

“So the code was changed, which means the conditional use permit that was existing needed to be amended as well,” Farmville Town Manager Dr. Scott Davis told the council and planning commission on Wednesday. “The code was changed so that it allowed all detainees, all adult detainees.” 

But the conditional use permit was never changed from that 2007 original. That came to light recently when the current owners of the center, Abyon, reached out and asked for a zoning certification letter. When the town provided one, the owners pointed out it was the 2007 version, not one that reflected the changes made in 2011. 

“That’s how we came up with the records to show that this conditional use permit should have been done in 2011,” Davis explained. 

Which is how we arrived at the June 4 meeting, with the goal of amending the conditional use permit to match what was approved in 2011. Abyon officials made it clear they weren’t looking for any expansion or change of any kind, beyond making sure the conditional use permit matched the zoning. In a May 12 letter, the law firm Williams Mullen, representing Abyon, wrote to the town that “no change in use of the subject property is proposed or contemplated; however, the applicant files this application at the direction of the town and for the sole reason of resolving an ambiguity pertaining to prior town approvals.” 

In other words, the company wanted to make sure the conditional use permit matched what had been approved back in 2011. 

Some confusion over ICE detention center

There were a few Farmville residents who spoke during the public hearing Wednesday, with each one asking the town to do away with the detention facility in some way. A few asked the council not to let an ICE center come to town, even though one has been here since 2007. Others asked the council not to let the ICE center expand, but again, that was not part of this request. 

To be clear, the only thing requested by the company was to change the conditional use permit they’re operating under to match what was approved by the council back in 2011. That means simply removing the words Level 1. Instead of just Level 1 adult detainees, all adult detainees would be allowed. 

Other residents wanted the town to shut down the facility. But as we mentioned before, the town no longer is a government partner with the ICE detention center. 

To explain, the Farmville council in March 2024 agreed to end their contract with the ICE detention center. Prince Edward County took over the contract when Farmville stepped back. At the time, county supervisors pointed out they made that decision because the detention center is one of the largest employers in Prince Edward, with more than 200 employees. It also brings in more than $180,000 a year in taxes due to the current contract. Also as part of the current contract, Prince Edward Administrator Doug Stanley can go into the facility at any point, 24 hours a day. So the town is a host and the center has to follow its zoning ordinances and permits, but that’s the extent of the interaction. 

The current contract between the county and the detention center runs through March 29, 2029. At that point, the county will have the option to renew, renegotiate or terminate the contract. To be clear, as we’ve highlighted before, even if anything changes during the life of this contract, it does not mean the detainees would be released. Instead, Abyon could operate the facility on its own or look for a new partner. And if the facility closed, the detainees would simply be transferred to another Homeland Security property. 

Making an adjustment 

And so, Wednesday’s vote was fairly uneventful. Davis explained this request was just correcting a mistake that had been made years ago. 

“They’ve been operating, since 2011 to today, based on what they thought happened in 2011,” Davis said. “They’ve been operating for 14 years under the premise, and obviously the town under that premise, that it was legal to have (any) adult detainees.” 

To address that, the town council voted unanimously, with Adam Yoelin abstaining, to amend the conditional use permit, removing the words “Level 1” and “public”. So now the conditional use permit states the detention center can house any “adult immigrant detainees”.

For more on this, including a look at the details of the Prince Edward contract with ICE, click here.