• Clerk of District Court: 513 North Main Street, P.O. Box 158, Burlington, IA 52601; 319-753-8262.
• Juvenile Court Office: 513 North Main Street, Burlington, IA 52601; 319-753-8281.
• Des Moines County Correctional Center: 3630 Bauer Drive, Burlington, IA 52601; 319-753-8275.
• State Public Defender, Burlington office: 216 South Third Street, Burlington, IA 52601; 319-753-5163.

1. First appearance: within a day or so a magistrate decides release terms and asks about counsel.
2. Trial information: formal charges filed by the county attorney in indictable cases.
3. Arraignment: you plead guilty or not guilty before a district judge.
4. Pretrial: both sides swap evidence, file motions and talk about a plea.
5. Trial, then sentencing, if the case is not settled.

Follow your case on Iowa Courts Online.

If you can't afford a lawyer, tell the magistrate early and complete the court's financial form. The court may then assign the State Public Defender's Burlington office, listed above, or a contract attorney under the State Public Defender program. You may have to pay some of the cost back. For release, see our bail guide.

Juvenile court officers at the courthouse, 319-753-8281, look at complaints against people under 18. They can handle a case informally or ask the county attorney for a delinquency petition. Some serious felonies by 16- and 17-year-olds start in adult court instead.

Federal crimes from Des Moines County go to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, 131 East 4th Street, Davenport, IA 52801; reach the clerk's office through its main line, 515-284-6248. To find someone in federal custody, see our inmate search page.

Most go to 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. Either way, a detention hearing is due within 1 working day.

Weapons are not allowed in the courthouse. Des Moines County's clerk is at 319-753-8262; the fax is 319-753-8253. The district scheduler, at 641-684-6502, can tell you a hearing time.

Deputies from the sheriff's office on Washington Street serve district court warrants, and Burlington police serve some of their own. The sheriff's number is 319-753-8212. Burlington-area warrant names aren't published, and Iowa doesn't offer a public statewide search. The case shows on Iowa Courts Online. When a warrant stems from a missed hearing, the Clerk of District Court at 513 North Main Street in Burlington (319-753-8262) can explain the steps toward a new date.