Many sheriffs in California were not fans of the state's "sanctuary" bill, which limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

The state sheriffs' association opposed the legislation as it made its way through Sacramento earlier this year. In a March letter to lawmakers, Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff called the bill "bad law and even worse public policy."

But Inland Empire sheriffs' departments say they will comply with the new law when it takes effect Jan. 1.

"Our intent is to follow the California law," said Jerry Gutierrez, assistant sheriff with Riverside County's corrections division.

The California Values Act, or SB 54, was the state's response to the Trump administration's call for expanded deportations across the country. It prohibits local law enforcement agencies from using their resources to carry out immigration enforcement.

For example, it prevents them from asking about an individuals' immigration status, detaining someone based on an immigration hold request, using federal immigration authorities as interpreters and providing immigration agents with dedicated office space.

Those who support it say it will help rebuild trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement; those against it say it's a largely symbolic gesture that endangers public safety.

MORE: California’s new ‘sanctuary’ law will aid some immigrants, but not all

One of the most controversial changes upon implementation will be that sheriffs' departments can no longer comply with immigration authorities' requests to be notified when undocumented individuals are released from jail, unless they have been convicted of a serious or violent felony or several hundred other crimes.

Currently, if immigration agents ask local law enforcement to notify them of someone's release date, there are no restrictions on local agencies' compliance.

Many sheriffs don't like this shift because it restricts them from responding to immigration officials' requests regarding people convicted of crimes like repeat drunk driving, animal abusers, chronic abusers of drugs such as heroin, and known criminal gang members arrested for most misdemeanor crimes, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown.

“Any limitation on our ability to communicate with our federal law enforcement partners is wrong-headed and not a good idea,” said Brown, who serves as president of the California State Sheriffs' Association, which opposed the bill.

Brown said it will be time-consuming for jail employees to determine whether they can lawfully comply with immigration officials' requests to notify them of an individual's release, based on his criminal history.

"That is going to tie up staff time that has not been tied up in the past," he said. "That's probably the most onerous part of this."

He emphasized that sheriffs' departments do not currently engage in immigration enforcement in the field -- and have no intention of doing so.

But when undocumented people commit crimes, "we want the ability to work hand-in-hand with our ICE law enforcement partners to have them removed from our community," he said. "We want to protect the people that we serve – all the people that we serve."

Until now, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department has complied with notification requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, spokesman Gutierrez said.

"We notify ICE for every individual they request to be notified on," he said.

Under the new law, the Riverside County sheriff's department will do a thorough review of people's rap sheets before responding to ICE notification requests, he said.

"It's one additional process, but it shouldn't have that big of an impact," he said.

Deputies will continue to work with federal law enforcement organizations, including ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in various task forces, he said.

"We don't consider ourselves a sanctuary county," Gutierrez said.

MORE: Riverside County is not a sanctuary county, according to sheriff

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department also currently complies with ICE notification requests, said spokesman Perez. He said jail staff will continue to respond to ICE requests to notify the agency of inmates' releases when appropriate under the new law.

San Bernardino has never declared itself a sanctuary county, Perez said.

In a Dec. 1 letter, the ACLU of California recommended the Riverside and San Bernardino sheriffs' departments further limit when they respond to ICE's notification requests. The group suggested not responding to the requests at all, explaining that many agencies already don't allow in-custody transfers to ICE.

It added that release dates for sentenced individuals are already publicly available in most places.

If agencies continue responding to ICE notification requests, the ACLU recommended limiting it to only the current charge or conviction for which the individual is in custody, and only for felonies.

But Perez of San Bernardino County said the agency won't pick and choose which parts of the law it complies with.

"We aren't going to divert from what the law says," he said. "If there's someone that ICE is seeking information on… it's an obligation we have to be fair and unbiased and provide the information."

Starting March 1, 2019, the California Values Act will also require local law enforcement agencies to submit annual reports detailing the number of people they have transferred into federal immigration custody, the purpose of any joint task force they've joined and the total number of people arrested by that task force for immigration enforcement purposes.

Rebecca Plevin covers immigration and equality for The Desert Sun. Contact her at rebecca.plevin@desertsun.com or @rebeccaplevin on Twitter.