"The resources established by ICE at the national level to facilitate the federal-local partnership appear to suffer from significant problems at the local level," Matheson writes in the letter to Secretary Michael Chertoff, dated Aug. 8.

ICE officials say they are aware of the problems and are working to alleviate some of the pressures by next year.

The letter is in response to complaints by police in the region, including St. George Police Chief Marlon Stratton and Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith.

Matheson claims that the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, which police officers use to determine a person's immigration status, is inadequate. It is not unusual, Matheson writes, for officers to wait up to four hours for an answer to an inquiry.

The letter also claims if a person is found in violation of immigration law, they are often released because the Office of Detention and Release is so understaffed. The Office of Investigations is also short-handed, the letter states.

"Law enforcement officers in southwestern Utah report that ICE agents all-too-frequently instruct them to release those individuals [in violation] because the ICE office in St. George doesn't have the personnel to respond," the letter says.

Matheson points out that the St. George office has only four agents responsible for seven counties in the region that he calls the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country with 1,000 new residents moving in every month.

"Yet the Department of Homeland Security has failed to respond with sufficient resources for ICE in the region," Matheson writes.

Smith, the Washington County sheriff, said on Monday that he and other law enforcement officials met with Matheson's staff last week to express their concerns about the lack of ICE agents.

He said one example of the lack of ICE resources occurred earlier this month after a fatal accident that killed the driver of a truck at Sand Hollow Reservoir.

Several other people were involved in the accident, including several undocumented immigrants that had to be let go because of lack of response from the federal agency.

He said his office is increasingly responsible for dealing with immigration issues, including transporting violators from the ICE office in St. George to the county jail.

"That draws on our resources and we are short-handed anyway," Smith said. "I feel badly for them [ICE] because I know they are doing the best they can, but it's frustrating for us."

Stratton said Monday that Matheson's staff was receptive to his concerns.

"We need help down here," said Stratton. "[ICE] does a great job with the resources they have, but it is unrealistic to think that two or three agents can adequately deal with seven counties."

Matheson said Monday he has not yet heard from Chertoff's office, but he is hoping the situation can be rectified.

"The staffing by [ICE] has not changed for sometime while the demand for services has grown," said Matheson.

He said his impression is the rapid growth in the region combined with its location makes the problem more prevalent than other areas of the state.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice, said Monday that another special agent will be added to the Detention and Removal Office in St. George by the end of the year.

Under a realignment of the agency's Offices of Investigations, Utah will move from under the auspices of ICE's San Francisco office to its Denver headquarters.

"That's more than moving pieces on a chess board," Kice said. "The head of the Denver office said he will be able to draw on resources in Durango and Grand Junction [Colo.], and direct them to investigations in Utah as needed."

mhavnes@sltrib.com