Cerro Gordo County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Open the sheriff's jail population report, a PDF built fresh from the booking system that shows each person's charges and total bond. If the name is missing or you need detail, phone the jail at 641-421-3019. VINELink sends an alert on release, and our inmate search page lists other tools.

When no judge has acted yet, deputies go by Iowa's uniform bond schedule: $300 on a simple misdemeanor, $1,000 serious, $2,000 aggravated, then $5,000 for a class D felony, $10,000 for class C and $25,000 for class B. A booking with three counts carries three bonds, so the report's total is the figure to watch. Warrants list their own amount.

Bond is not set at the desk for forcible felonies, domestic abuse assault, stalking or breaking a protective or no-contact order. The same is true of sexual abuse (first to third degree), meth production, delivery or possession for delivery, intimidating with a dangerous weapon, and felons holding guns. Those people see a Second Judicial District magistrate, generally at the next court session, who weighs the danger to others and the odds the person returns for court.

• Cash at the jail, day or night.
• A bail agent: when a charge, citation or warrant reads cash/surety (sometimes printed c/s), an insurance-backed agent can post it for a fee you won't get back. The jail page keeps a list of agents who work here.
• Property in Iowa equal to the bond, set up through the clerk.

It did. Since July 1, 2026, Senate File 2399 reserves release on a bare promise to appear for simple or serious misdemeanors free of any violence or drug element, with room for a medical exception. A judge who orders less than the schedule has to explain why in writing. Revised dollar amounts that account for inflation must reach the Supreme Court from the Judicial Council no later than July 1, 2027.

The Clerk of District Court works in the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse, 220 North Washington Avenue, Mason City, IA 50401, 641-424-6431. That office takes cash bond, gives hearing dates and keeps the files. Staff cannot advise anyone on a case.

A bench warrant usually follows, along with an order forfeiting the bond. Iowa Code 811.6 then gives the surety 30 days from notice to bring the person in or pay. Failing to appear is also charged on its own under 811.2(8): a felony case turns that into a class D felony, and a misdemeanor case into a serious misdemeanor.

Cash bond is refundable at the end of the matter if no hearing was skipped, though the clerk may first take out fines, costs or restitution if the judge so orders. A bail agent's fee is earned the day the bond posts. Money left on a jail account is refunded on a debit card at release; see our money guide.

Federal charges from Cerro Gordo County belong to the Northern District of Iowa's Central Division, with a courtroom in Mason City; its clerk is at 320 6th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, 712-233-3900. Release on those rests with a U.S. magistrate judge. Iowa Code chapter 27A obliges the jail to honor ICE detainers, so check the ICE locator if someone is moved.

Juveniles don't post bond the way adults do. If secure custody is needed, the youth is taken to North Iowa Juvenile Detention Services, 1440 West Dunkerton Road, Waterloo, IA 50703, 319-291-2455 and a judge looks at the hold within 1 working day.