Arrest History in Des Moines County
Several agencies can create Des Moines County arrest records. The sheriff patrols unincorporated areas and provides contract law enforcement for Mediapolis, Danville, and Middletown. Burlington Police and West Burlington Police keep their own city incident and arrest reports. Iowa State Patrol District 13 keeps records of its trooper actions. Federal or other state agencies retain their own narratives even when the person later enters the county jail.
The record chain has separate links. An arresting agency writes the incident and arrest narrative. The Des Moines County Correctional Center creates booking and custody records. Fingerprints support the arrest cycle sent to Iowa DCI. If prosecutors file a charge, the Clerk of Court opens an Iowa District Court case. Those files may show different charges because an intake allegation can be amended, replaced, declined, dismissed, or resolved later.
For a state-patrol arrest, contact District 13 at 1300 South Grand Avenue, Mount Pleasant, or 319-385-8715. Southeastern Community College Campus Security creates campus safety reports and refers crimes to local police, but its officers have no arrest powers. The law-enforcement agency holds the criminal incident report after that referral.
Des Moines County Arrests Without a Roster
No official public Des Moines County inmate-name search, daily booking blotter, or county mugshot gallery was verified. The sheriff's jail pages link to court, bond, deposit, communication, and PREA resources, but they do not publish a searchable roster. That means current custody starts by phone, while an older booking usually requires a records request. An unofficial people-search or mugshot site is not a substitute for the official record.
Call the Des Moines County Correctional Center at 319-753-8275 for current county custody information. Ask the sheriff's Records Division for a booking sheet or historical jail material that the jail does not give by phone. Search the court separately if a charge was filed. Iowa Offender Search applies after transfer to state prison or state or district supervision, not while a person is in the county jail.
How to Look Up Des Moines County Arrests
A complete Des Moines County arrest lookup uses every available official channel. Begin with custody because there is no online roster. Then identify the agency that created the report. The court and DCI answer later and broader questions, but neither replaces the local narrative or booking record.
- Call the Correctional Center at 319-753-8275 to ask about current county custody. A phone answer may not supply a full historical booking file.
- Identify the arresting agency, then request its report. Use Burlington's police form, the sheriff's Chapter 22 route, West Burlington Police, or Iowa State Patrol as the event requires.
- For sheriff or jail records, email so-clerical@dmcounty.com, visit or mail 512 North Main Street, Burlington, or call 319-753-8212 to clarify the request.
- Search Iowa Courts Online for a filed Des Moines County case and read through disposition. Filing may lag behind arrest.
- Use the Iowa DCI $15 name and exact-date-of-birth check when the question concerns releasable Iowa repository history, not the officer narrative.
- After a state-custody transfer, use Iowa Offender Search. Use the federal locator only for federal custody.
Note: A missing web result does not prove no arrest occurred because Des Moines County publishes no verified open booking roster.
Des Moines County Booking Requests
The sheriff's Records Division is the key fallback for sheriff arrests and Des Moines County booking material. The county's optional public-records request route accepts a written request by email, mail, or in person. Anonymous requests are honored, and use of the PDF is optional. A clear request should give the record type, incident or case number if known, event date or range, location, and involved party without adding unneeded sensitive identifiers.
The first 30 minutes of work are free. Later work is charged at the clerk's actual time and material cost. Email delivery avoids paper, disc, or sheriff-provided flash-drive medium charges. Payment is due before release, and a larger request may require estimated prepayment. The sheriff lists cash, check, and money order and ordinarily aims to process requests within 10 business days. Chapter 22 still permits redaction or withholding of confidential juvenile, victim, personal, or active-investigation material.
Des Moines County Sheriff's Records Division
512 North Main Street
Burlington, IA 52601
319-753-8212
so-clerical@dmcounty.com
Weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
What an Arrest Record Shows
An arrest report and a booking record overlap, but they are not the same Des Moines County record. The agency report commonly states who was arrested, when and where, the arresting agency or officer, the alleged offense and authority, and an incident identifier. Jail intake may add booking time, an internal identifier, fingerprints and photo capture, property and intake information, holds, custody, and release details. These are record categories, not a promise that the county releases each field to the public.
| Identity | Information used by the arresting agency and jail to connect the event to the subject. |
|---|---|
| Date, time, and place | When and where the arrest or admission occurred, if releasable. |
| Arresting agency | The sheriff, local police, patrol, or other office that created the arrest narrative. |
| Alleged charge | The basis recorded at arrest or intake, which may differ from a later filed charge. |
| Booking and custody | Jail admission, holds, status, release, or transfer information when maintained and public. |
| Fingerprints and photo | May be created during intake; public release is decided through the official records process. |
| Bond information | May exist at the jail and court; verify the current amount and accepted method directly. |
Public access depends on the requested document and the law that applies to it. A records custodian may remove protected identifiers or victim information, and an active investigation may limit release. Ask for a segregable public part and the cited legal basis when the Des Moines County sheriff or police department withholds part of an arrest record.
Des Moines County Jail Intake
A person held after a Des Moines County arrest is taken to the Correctional Center at 3630 Bauer Drive, Burlington. The ordinary flow is transport, identity and intake processing, fingerprint and booking-photo capture, property and charge or hold documentation, classification and medical screening, then judicial appearance and a bond decision as the law requires. This process does not mean every intake field is open to public inspection.
The official Correctional Center source is shown below.
The jail page is the direct source for facility information, yet current custody still requires a call because the page has no public inmate-name search.
The facility opened in 1995 as a 68-bed direct-supervision jail, while the current sheriff overview describes capacity up to 80. The numbers describe its opening design and current stated maximum, not conflicting claims about the same moment. The county also assesses booked and housed people $55 per day for room and board under Iowa Code §356.7.
Burlington Arrest Report Fields
Burlington Police provides a dedicated Police Report Request Form with “Arrest” as a report-type choice. It is the best direct route for a Burlington officer's narrative. The form also asks for the requester name, phone and email, involved-party names and relationship, and any known CFS case number or location. Its “Criminal History/Background” choice is expressly limited to Des Moines County and is not an Iowa-wide DCI check.
The official Burlington request interface appears in the source image below.
The form's clear arrest option helps route a city report without sending the same request to the sheriff, jail, and clerk.
Burlington Police is at 201 Jefferson Street, Burlington, and its general number is 319-753-8366. DESCOM nonemergency dispatch is 319-671-7001. West Burlington Police, by contrast, should be contacted at 122 Broadway Street or 319-754-8555 for its own incidents. Detention at the county jail does not transfer ownership of either city's officer narrative to the sheriff.
Recent Arrests and Booking Logs
Des Moines County has no verified public daily booking log. Official press releases or agency social posts may mention selected events, but they do not form a complete arrest index. The absence of a name from those posts says nothing reliable about whether an arrest occurred. Likewise, the county does not provide a public mugshot gallery, and no booking photo should be promised simply because the jail may create one at intake.
For a recent event, call the jail, identify the arresting agency, and request that agency's arrest report. For older custody data, ask the sheriff for a booking record with a narrow date range. If a charge was filed, the Des Moines County criminal case record supplies the later court trail. The jail file, officer narrative, and court docket answer different questions and should be reconciled rather than treated as duplicates.
Des Moines County Jail Record History
Local custody records reflect a long chain of facilities. Des Moines County once held prisoners in private homes. A sheriff and jail building was erected in 1838, another jail followed on High Street in 1854, and an 1890 sheriff and jail stood at Main and Court. When the current courthouse opened in 1940, the jail occupied its fourth floor and the sheriff used the first. The Bauer Drive facility replaced that arrangement in 1995.
The sheriff's official history is represented below.
This timeline explains why a modern jail inquiry goes to Bauer Drive while sheriff records staff and the court clerk remain downtown at separate offices.
Des Moines County Arrests at DCI
Fingerprints support the arrest cycle that Iowa agencies report to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The court later reports a disposition, allowing DCI to update its repository history. The timing and source matter. A local booking can appear before a court charge is filed, and a dismissal can reach the court docket before the repository is updated. A DCI record is not a packet of local police narratives or court filings.
DCI's public check costs $15 per last name and requires first name, last name, and exact date of birth. Without signed authorization, DCI withholds arrests more than 18 months old that have no final disposition and completed deferred judgments. A “No Iowa Criminal History Found” response may mean no file, only information that cannot be released, or confidential juvenile information. It should never be read as proof that no Des Moines County arrest event exists.
Arrests vs Convictions
An arrest shows that an agency took a person into custody or exercised arrest authority based on an allegation. A conviction is a court judgment based on a guilty plea or verdict. Des Moines County readers should compare the arrest report with the filed charge and final docket result because prosecutors can amend or decline charges, and cases can end in dismissal or acquittal.
| Arrest record | Conviction record |
|---|---|
| Created by the arresting agency; the jail creates a separate booking file | Created by Iowa District Court through judgment |
| Shows an arrest allegation and custody event | Shows a finding of guilt by plea or verdict |
| Held by the agency and jail, with a fingerprint-supported cycle at DCI | Held by the clerk and reported to DCI |
| May lead to no filing, amendment, dismissal, acquittal, or conviction | Leads to sentence and may later be affected by appeal or lawful expungement |
Note: An arrest is not proof of guilt, and a Des Moines County booking may never result in a criminal conviction.