The Polk County, Iowa Jail Inmate Roster is a public resource that allows anyone to check who is currently in the custody of the sheriff. PolkIACourt.us provides access to public information about current and recently released inmates. Additionally, data can be obtained through the official Polk County Inmates website, in person at the jail, or by phone. The roster is maintained by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; it is regularly updated and hosted on a separate subdomain polkinmates.polkcountyiowa.gov. Arrest records are not proof of guilt — they are merely a transparency tool.
Search Current Inmates in Polk Jail
There are several ways to find out if a person is in custody at the Polk County Jail.
Online Search
- Go to the Current Inmates page — it displays a complete list of individuals currently held in the jail.
- The list can be browsed manually: it is sorted by last name and includes the name, age, and booking date.
- To quickly find a specific person, use the browser's search function (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) and enter the last name.
- Click "View" next to the name to see details: charges, booking date, and other available information.
You can also view bookings from the last 24 hours — useful if you know the arrest happened recently. For public court information, use PolkIACourt.us.
Note: Inmates with federal charges are not displayed in the list. Juvenile offenders are also excluded from the public roster.
By Phone
Call the Sheriff's Office to request records:
- Records inquiry phone number: (515) 286-3313
Be prepared to provide the person's full legal name or booking number.
In Person
For an in-person visit, you will need the inmate's full name. If you have the booking number, it will speed up the process. More details on the records request procedure can be found on the Request a Record page.
Find Polk Jail Booking Records Online
A booking record is created at the moment a person is officially registered in the jail. This occurs after an arrest — regardless of whether the person was detained by Des Moines police, state patrol, or sheriff's deputies.
During booking, the following data is recorded:
- Unique booking number
- Date and time of intake
- Charges
- Arresting agency
- Basic identification information: name, age
The fastest way to view bookings is the Polk County Inmates portal. It has three main sections: current inmate list, bookings from the last 24 hours, and search for releases in the last 365 days.
If the person has already been transferred to an Iowa Department of Corrections facility, use the Iowa DOC offender search. For a state-level criminal history check, there is a separate procedure through the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
The Sheriff's Office does not provide information on case disposition. To find out how a case concluded, contact the Iowa Judicial Branch or use the Iowa Courts Online system.
Search the Polk Jail Roster by Last Name or Booking Number
There are two main approaches to searching on the current inmates page.
Search by Last Name
The list on the Current Inmates page is already sorted alphabetically by last name. Scroll to the desired letter or press Ctrl+F and enter the last name. Some tips:
- Use the exact spelling of the legal name — last names with hyphens or apostrophes may appear differently.
- If the last name is common (e.g., Smith), add the first name to narrow the results.
- Try only the first few letters of the last name if you are unsure of the full spelling.
Search by Booking Number
If you know the booking number, it can help identify a specific record, especially when there are multiple individuals with the same last name in the system.
If the Search Yields No Results
- Check the spelling of the name — even one letter matters.
- The person may have already been released. Use the search for released inmates in the last 365 days on the main portal page.
- If the person has federal charges, they will not appear in this roster.
- Call (515) 286-3313 for clarification.
Jail Roster Updates and Search Limitations in Polk
The Polk County roster is updated regularly throughout the day, but it does not happen instantly. There may be some time between the actual booking and the appearance of the record on the site — usually from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the jail's workload and data processing time.
Main limitations to be aware of:
| Limitation | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Delay in record appearance | A recently arrested person may not yet appear in the list until the booking process is complete. |
| Disappearance after release | After release, the record is removed from the current inmates list. It can be found through the release search (up to 365 days). |
| Federal cases | Inmates with federal charges are not included in the roster. |
| Not an archive | The roster only reflects the current custody status — it is not a database of all past arrests in the county. |
| Juveniles | Records of juvenile offenders are not published. |
If you need information on older bookings, submit an official records request to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. For individuals transferred to state correctional facilities, use the Iowa.gov inmate search.
It's important to remember: an arrest record is not a conviction. The Sheriff's Office explicitly states that roster data should not be used for any legal action. Information on case disposition is provided by the court, not the jail.