WELLINGTON ? Sumner County in south-central Kansas has been trying to win a contract for a federal immigrant detention facility.

Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey said he received a letter from the department of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement saying it was looking for a regional civil detention facility to house illegal immigrants while their status is being evaluated.

Gilkey told The Wellington News that ICE wants to have a stand-alone facility that would hold up to about 400 people. He said the department now uses a variety of facilities, including county jails, to hold detainees.

ICE is in the selection process and has not said when a selection would be made. Those closest to the project say it can be nothing but beneficial.

If the facility is built, federal money would pay off bonds created to build it. Sumner County also could include a buy-out clause stating that if the contract was pulled before the building was paid off, the government would pay the remainder of the building fees.

The County would see a possible contract worth $11 to $12 million. That money would cover the needs of those in the facility, the payroll and benefits for those running facility, and the utilities and building itself.