Des Moines County Correctional Center Inmate Bail & Bonds
Des Moines County Bail and Bond, Burlington, Iowa
People held at the Des Moines County Correctional Center in Burlington are released when bail is paid or the court lets them out on conditions.
The center gives bond information at 319-753-8275. Des Moines County, with about 38,000 people in Burlington, West Burlington, Mediapolis, Danville and Middletown, sits on the Mississippi across from Illinois. Arrests are booked into the Des Moines County Correctional Center at 3630 Bauer Drive, Burlington, IA 52601.
The jail's number is 319-753-8275. Unlike Illinois next door, Iowa still uses money bail.
1. Is someone at the Correctional Center?
No public roster is posted for Burlington's jail, so call 319-753-8275 with a name and birthday, or search VINELink. VINE can also send you a text or call when the person leaves custody. Our inmate search page has other tips.
↑ Back to the question list2. Iowa's bond schedule
If no judge has seen the person yet, the starting bond comes from Iowa's uniform bond schedule:
- Class B felony: $25,000
- Class C felony: $10,000
- Class D felony: $5,000
- Aggravated misdemeanor: $2,000
- Serious misdemeanor: $1,000
- Simple misdemeanor: $300
Several charges mean several bonds, added together.
↑ Back to the question list3. Charges that wait for a magistrate
The schedule can't be used for a forcible felony, a domestic abuse arrest, or a violation of a no-contact or protective order. So do stalking, the first three degrees of sexual abuse, making, dealing or possessing meth to deal, intimidating anyone with a dangerous weapon, and a convicted felon caught armed. An Eighth Judicial District magistrate looks at the person's criminal history, family and job ties and any danger before deciding.
↑ Back to the question list4. Ways to post bond in Burlington
- Cash for the whole amount, which comes back at the end as long as every date was kept.
- A surety bond through a licensed insurance agent. The sheriff's website keeps a list of bonding agencies, and the agent's fee is not returned.
- An Iowa property bond, filed with the clerk.
Call the Correctional Center at 319-753-8275 to check which payment it can take before you go.
↑ Back to the question list5. Senate File 2399 in plain words
Starting July 1, 2026, going home on just a promise to appear is allowed only in simple or serious misdemeanor cases with no violence and no drug charge, with an exception for medical need. If a judge sets bail below the schedule or lets someone out another way, the reasons go in writing. Dollar amounts have stayed the same so far. The Judicial Council has until July 1, 2027, to propose an inflation update to the Iowa Supreme Court.
↑ Back to the question list6. Where to reach the clerk
The Clerk of District Court is in the courthouse at 513 North Main Street, Burlington, IA 52601. Mail goes to P.O. Box 158. Call 319-753-8262. The clerk handles bond paperwork, keeps the file and lists court dates, but staff cannot give legal advice.
↑ Back to the question list7. Jail fees after release
Under Iowa Code 356.7, the sheriff bills $55 for each day someone spends at the Correctional Center. Anyone on court-approved work release pays $20 for each workday, paid up weekly before they leave for work, and that amount comes off the daily fee.
↑ Back to the question list8. If the defendant misses court
The judge will likely issue a warrant and may declare the bond forfeited. Under Iowa Code 811.6 the surety has 30 days after it is notified to produce the defendant or pay the bond. Iowa Code 811.2(8) also makes a no-show its own crime. When the underlying case is a felony, that charge is a class D felony; in any other case it is a serious misdemeanor.
↑ Back to the question list9. Getting bond money back
After the case closes, and if every hearing was attended, the clerk returns the cash to whoever posted it, after taking out whatever the judge orders toward fines, costs or restitution. Whatever was paid to a bonding agent stays with the agent. Read our money guide about money left on a jail account.
↑ Back to the question list10. Federal cases and ICE
Federal arrests from Burlington go to the Davenport courthouse of the Southern District's Eastern Division at 131 East 4th Street, Davenport, IA 52801; the clerk's office main number for all locations is 515-284-6248. Release in a federal case is up to a federal magistrate judge, not the county. State law, Iowa Code chapter 27A, makes the jail hold people on ICE detainers. The ICE locator can track a transfer.
↑ Back to the question list11. What happens when a Burlington teen is arrested?
Juvenile court decides release; the adult schedule does not apply. Detained youth are usually placed at South Iowa Juvenile Detention, 2528 255th Street, Montrose, IA 52639, 319-463-7417. The Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center, 2317 Rick Collins Way, Eldora, IA 50627, 641-858-3852 also lists this county among those it accepts. A detention hearing is required within 1 working day.
↑ Back to the question listHow do Bail Bonds work at Des Moines County Correctional Center
Getting Out of the Bauer Drive Jail on Bail
Release conditions under Iowa Code chapter 811 for each person Sheriff Glendening holds are set by a judge or magistrate of the Eighth Judicial District, where Shawn R. Showers serves as chief judge, and the listing says Bauer Drive staff at 319-753-8275 can give details on that bail before a family pays anything.
The ten percent cash deposit stopped being available at Bauer Drive, as everywhere in Iowa, when Senate File 2399 took hold on July 1, 2026, and Burlington relatives therefore compare raising the whole sum with finding an 811.3 surety, either a company the Iowa Insurance Division authorizes or a fellow Iowan pledging in-state property.
Des Moines County Correctional Center
Address:
3630 Bauer Drive
Burlington, IA 52601
Phone:
319-753-8275
Bail Questions From Burlington Families
Could Bauer Drive staff lower my cousin's bail if we cannot raise the full amount?
Before I head to Bauer Drive with money, how do I find out what a Des Moines County judge set for my son?
Ring 319-753-8275; Glendening's correctional center staff answer bail questions on that line, per the listing.
My uncle was jailed in Burlington this October; can we post ten percent of his bail as people used to?
No. Senate File 2399 scrapped partial deposits statewide that July 1, so a Bauer Drive family either gathers the complete figure or lines up an 811.3 surety.
Could Bauer Drive staff lower my cousin's bail if we cannot raise the full amount?
No. Only an Eighth District judge can modify Des Moines County bail, usually after a defense motion filed at 513 North Main Street.
My friend in West Burlington owns her house outright; could she stand surety for my brother held on Bauer Drive?
Owning the West Burlington house helps: an Iowa resident may pledge in-state property equal to the full bail under 811.3, and an Iowa-authorized insurer is the other route.
Conditions After Release From Bauer Drive
Bail gets a Des Moines County defendant out of the Burlington correctional center, but it comes with obligations to the Eighth District court at 513 North Main Street.
- Whatever Burlington's magistrate wrote at the first hearing keeps binding. Iowa Code 811.2 leaves those first-appearance conditions on a released Bauer Drive prisoner until an Eighth District order rewrites them or the Des Moines County prosecution closes out.
- No-contact and reporting orders from Showers's district. Ignoring a stay-away clause or a check-in requirement is a quick route from a North Main Street courtroom back into a Bauer Drive cell.
- Not showing up on North Main Street. When a Burlington defendant's chair sits empty at a scheduled hearing, Showers's judges may use Iowa Code 811.7 to declare the posted money forfeited and send Glendening's deputies out with a warrant.
- Chance and Gardner's scheduling line for Des Moines County. The Judicial Branch credits Steffanie Chance and Amy Gardner with Des Moines County case scheduling at 641-684-6502, and each date they set then surfaces on Iowa Courts Online.
- A surety's exit through Iowa Code 811.8. Walking the defendant back through the Bauer Drive doors and into Glendening's custody, while no forfeiture judgment has yet been entered in Burlington, is how a Des Moines County surety gets released from the obligation.
Owing appearances in two counties at once is common for people Glendening releases. The Judicial Branch court directory locates the second courthouse; Burlington paperwork stays a matter for 319-753-8262.
Instructions on how to post Bail or Bond in Des Moines County
How to Post Bail at the Des Moines County Jail
The listing's advice for Bauer Drive is to phone 319-753-8275 before any cash bail changes hands; have the prisoner's spelled-out name and birth date ready and get three answers from Glendening's staff:
- the figure attached to every Des Moines County count, plus whether a detainer from Lee or Henry County, an Illinois agency, federal officers or immigration means Burlington keeps the prisoner even after paying;
- which forms of payment Glendening's staff accept for cash bail at Bauer Drive and at what hours;
- whether paper other than currency, say a cashier's check drawn on a Burlington bank, is acceptable for Des Moines County bail at Glendening's front desk, and what payee line it must carry.
Paying full cash or using a surety after SF 2399
With the ten percent option gone since July 1, 2026, a Burlington family that cannot pay the whole amount can arrange an 811.3 surety or ask the defense lawyer to move for a bail review in front of an Eighth District judge.
No private bonding business may sell bail in Burlington or anywhere else in the state, so full cash bail or an 811.3 surety pledge for a Burlington defendant is recorded by the Des Moines County Clerk of Court at 319-753-8262; before driving to Bauer Drive with funds, a relative should dial 319-753-8275 to learn which window takes the deposit and during which hours.
Burlington's public defender office and its conflict backups
On the State Public Defender's designations for adult cases, the Des Moines County line dated October 3, 2012 assigns all indictable cases to the Burlington office and names three conflict offices, Ottumwa, Davenport and the Special Defense Unit, for class A felonies only.
Who can post Bail or Bond for a Defendant at Des Moines County Correctional Center?
Anyone, whether a parent in West Burlington, a friend in Iowa City or a relative out of state, may pay cash bail for a Bauer Drive prisoner, and the payer should keep the receipt until the Des Moines County case is resolved.
A cousin or neighbor who co-signs as surety for a Glendening prisoner owes the court the entire Burlington bail amount if that prisoner later misses a hearing, and any insurance company offering to stand behind the bail should be checked with the Iowa Insurance Division first.
Cases involving Des Moines County youths run through the Eighth District's Burlington juvenile court office, which shares the 513 North Main address with the clerk and answers 319-753-8281.