Inmate Search for Carroll County - Jails in Iowa

Jail or Juvenile Detention in Carroll County, Iowa: Which Is Which?

When someone is arrested anywhere in the county, they are almost always taken to the Carroll County jail, run by the county sheriff. It is where people are booked, and where they stay if they aren't released at their first appearance before a magistrate or judge. It also holds people serving short local sentences, usually a year or less. In Iowa, that covers most simple and serious misdemeanors and some aggravated ones. Someone sentenced to state prison waits here until the Iowa Department of Corrections picks them up. Men usually go first to the reception center in Coralville, and women to the prison in Mitchellville. Some Iowa jails also house people for neighboring counties, the state or federal agencies under contract, and a few small counties send their arrestees to a nearby county's jail. Most people held here are still waiting for their cases to be decided, so the list of who is in custody changes every day. To see if someone is being held, use the Carroll County inmate search.

Very few Iowa cities run their own jails today. Where a city police department has a holding cell at the station, it is only meant for a few hours: long enough to book someone and then release them with a citation, or drive them to the county jail. Anyone who isn't released quickly ends up in the Carroll County jail. Outside the largest cities, police take arrested people straight to the county jail. If you can't find someone after an arrest, the county inmate search is the best place to look.

Iowa youths under 18 are normally held at a juvenile detention center, not the adult jail. Iowa has a small number of these centers, and most serve several counties, so a young person from Carroll County may be taken to a center outside the county. A juvenile court judge must hold a hearing quickly, usually within about a day (or the next business day after a weekend or holiday), to decide whether the youth stays in detention or goes home under supervision. In detention, youths are kept apart from adults and continue going to school and getting health care. Iowa's juvenile court officers, not adult probation, manage these cases. Juvenile records in Iowa are generally kept confidential, so youths won't show up in the inmate search. Parents and guardians should call the detention center or the Carroll County juvenile court office. One exception: 16- and 17-year-olds charged with certain serious violent felonies can have their cases start in adult court, and may be held separately within an adult facility. If a judge orders a placement after the case is decided, a boy may be sent to the State Training School in Eldora, or the judge may choose a group home or treatment program.

Jails in Counties Bordering Carroll County

Seven counties meet Carroll County: Sac to the northwest, Calhoun to the northeast, Greene to the east, Guthrie along a short southeast line, Audubon to the south, Crawford to the west, and Shelby at a single southwest corner point.

• Sac County Jail, Sac City, reached by heading northwest out of Carroll County.
• Calhoun County Jail listing, Rockwell City; Calhoun County has no jail and now holds its prisoners in the Pocahontas County Jail.
• Greene County Jail in Jefferson, the county seat due east.
• Guthrie County Jail at Guthrie Center, where the two counties touch only briefly in the southeast.
• Audubon County Jail, Audubon, the next seat south of Carroll County.
• Crawford County Jail, Denison, the seat of the county bordering Carroll County on the west.
• Shelby County Jail in Harlan, reached past the lone southwest corner.