It was on December 28, 1846, when Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the union. Iowa is a Midwestern state that forms a link between the western high prairie grassland plains and the eastern forests. Its whole eastern border lies along the Mississippi River. Forming the western border of the gentle rolling landscape are the Missouri and the Big Sioux River, which makes Iowa the sole state that has two different rivers running parallel on its borders. Des Moines is the capital city, and the state of Iowa is bordered to the west by South Dakota and Nebraska, to the north by Minnesota, to the south by Missouri, and to the east by Illinois and Wisconsin. Native American people are the first settlers of this land, which also inspired the name of the state.

Iowa consists of 99 counties, including two, Dubuque County and Des Moines County, which were created when the area still belonged to the Michigan Territory in 1834. Iowa’s biggest and capital city, Des Moines, is located in Polk County. The state has a large number of ‘box counties’ which are almost square since they were formed through survey lines instead of natural boundaries.

The highest judicial power in Iowa is their Supreme Court or the ‘court of last resort’. The court is composed of six associate justices and a chief justice. Regular sessions of the court are held in the capital city of Des Moines and the justices have the only power to admit individuals to practice as lawyers in Iowa, as well as to discipline and to supervise their conduct.

The incumbent governor of Iowa has the sole power to appoint the justices based on a nomination list coming from the State Judicial Nominating Commission. One year is the initial office term and justices must be elected to office after the term expires.

Offender Search Web Page

The purpose and specifics of the Offender Search Web Page in each state varies. Read the disclosures carefully. Updates to the database could be biweekly, monthly and daily depending on the states Corrections Department schedule. Some searches show offenders incarcerated in the entire prison system including county jails and some only state prisons. Sometimes historical offender data is available and sometimes only current inmate records are listed. Youth and adult offenders are sometimes located on separate search portals.

State Offender Search: https://doc.iowa.gov/offender/search

Jails

Court Clerk

Correctional Facility