Dubuque County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds
Dubuque County Bail and Bond, Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque County bonds are what most people pay to be released from the Dubuque County Jail while charges are pending. Call 563-589-4420 to learn the amount set.
Dubuque County runs along the Mississippi where Iowa meets Illinois and Wisconsin, with close to 99,000 people in Dubuque, Asbury, Peosta, Dyersville, Cascade, Epworth, Farley and smaller towns. The jail is inside the Dubuque Law Enforcement Center, 770 Iowa Street, Dubuque, IA 52001, a building the sheriff shares with city police. The jail office answers at 563-589-4420, and non-emergency dispatch is 563-589-4414.
Is someone being held on Iowa Street?
The county doesn't post a live roster, so call the jail office at 563-589-4420 to ask about a booking, the charges and the bond; general jail details are on the county's Jail page. You can also register on VINELink or with Iowa VINE at 888-742-8463 to hear when a person is released or moved. More search options are on our inmate search page.
↑ Back to the question listWhat are the schedule amounts?
On arrival at the jail, before a judge reviews anything, bond comes from Iowa's uniform bond schedule. That means $300 on a simple misdemeanor, $1,000 on a serious misdemeanor and $2,000 on an aggravated one. A class D felony is $5,000, class C is $10,000 and class B is $25,000. Each count is bonded separately, and traffic cases follow the state's scheduled fines.
↑ Back to the question listCharges that need a magistrate
Forcible felonies and domestic abuse arrests are never bonded off the schedule. Neither are protective order or no-contact violations, stalking, or first, second or third-degree sexual abuse, nor meth manufacturing, dealing or possession with intent, using a dangerous weapon to intimidate, or felons found with guns. A First Judicial District magistrate decides release for those, looking at the charge, prior convictions, family and work ties and the danger to anyone else.
↑ Back to the question listChoices for posting bond
- Cash equal to the whole bond, returned at the finish provided the defendant attended each hearing.
- A surety bond from an insurance company through an agent licensed in Iowa. The agent keeps the premium.
- A pledge of Iowa property, signed by the owner and filed with the clerk.
People in the jail can also use money in their own trust account to post their own bond. Call 563-589-4420 before coming downtown to ask how bond is taken at that hour.
↑ Back to the question listSenate File 2399 and release in 2026
The law began July 1, 2026. Now a person charged with a simple or serious misdemeanor can leave on a written promise to return only if the case involves neither violence nor drugs. Judges who set bail below the schedule must explain the choice in writing. Amounts stay where they are for now, and the Judicial Council has until July 1, 2027, to send the Iowa Supreme Court an inflation-adjusted version.
↑ Back to the question listClerk of court at 720 Central
The Clerk of District Court is at the Dubuque County Courthouse, 720 Central Avenue, Dubuque, IA 52001. Call 563-589-4418 or email countyclerk.dubuque@iowacourts.gov on weekdays. This office takes bond money, keeps the file and lists hearing dates. Staff cannot give legal advice.
↑ Back to the question listJail time and room and board costs
The sheriff charges $50 a day for jail time, with a cap of $2,000 for a stay. Room and board questions go to 563-589-4409. Someone sentenced to serve time must call 563-589-4420, extension 3, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to set a start date, or a warrant may be sought. Work release has to be ordered by the court and arranged ahead of time.
↑ Back to the question listWhat happens after a skipped hearing?
Expect a warrant from the bench and a forfeiture order on the bond. Under Iowa Code 811.6, the surety company has 30 days from its notice to surrender the defendant or satisfy the bond. Section 811.2(8) treats the no-show as a new offense, graded as a class D felony in felony prosecutions and as a serious misdemeanor in every other case.
↑ Back to the question listGetting bond money returned
When the file closes and the defendant kept all court dates, the clerk refunds cash bail to the depositor. A judge can have fines, court costs or restitution paid from it first. Premiums paid to bonding agents do not come back. At release, the jail returns a person's own account balance on a debit card; see our money guide.
↑ Back to the question listFederal holds and ICE detainers
Federal cases from here belong to the Eastern Division of Iowa's Northern District, whose clerk sits at 111 7th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401, 319-286-2300. On federal charges a U.S. magistrate judge sets release terms, and county bond does not apply. Iowa Code chapter 27A has the jail honor ICE detainers, so paying state bond may not end custody. Look up transfers on the ICE locator.
↑ Back to the question listIs a minor's arrest handled through bond?
No. A detained Dubuque youth is placed at North Iowa Juvenile Detention Services, 1440 West Dunkerton Road, Waterloo, IA 50703, 319-291-2455; the Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center, 2317 Rick Collins Way, Eldora, IA 50627, 641-858-3852 also names Dubuque among the counties it takes. Either way, a juvenile judge rules on detention within 1 working day.
↑ Back to the question listPaying an Inmate's Bail or Bond in Dubuque County
Bail for Someone Held in the Dubuque County Jail
Release from the Iowa Street jail depends on a chapter 811 order from the First Judicial District, whose chief judge, David Odekirk, oversees the courtrooms on Central Avenue.
Dyersville and Asbury families who once paid a tenth of the bail lost that choice when SF 2399 took effect in July 2026.
Dubuque County Jail
Address:
770 Iowa Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
Phone:
563-589-4420
Frequently Asked Questions about Bail and Bonds in Dubuque County
Bail Questions From Dubuque County Families
My nephew was booked at the Law Enforcement Center last night; who tells me his bail?
Sheriff Kennedy said more people are waiting longer since July; why?
Police picked up my cousin in Peosta in August 2026; is the ten percent deposit still available?
Could the cash my brother had on him at booking go toward his own bond?
My nephew was booked at the Law Enforcement Center last night; who tells me his bail?
Kennedy's jail office (563-589-4420) has the figure once a magistrate sets it, and the Central Avenue clerk (563-589-4418) has the court order.
Sheriff Kennedy said more people are waiting longer since July; why?
He told KCRG that a law effective July 1, 2026 changed the rules for bond and first appearances, so more Dubuque defendants stay in custody longer before seeing a judge.
Police picked up my cousin in Peosta in August 2026; is the ten percent deposit still available?
That shortcut disappeared with SF 2399. For an August arrest in Peosta, the family needs every dollar of the cash figure or a surety who qualifies under 811.3.
Could the cash my brother had on him at booking go toward his own bond?
Yes. Everything taken at booking lands in his Iowa Street trust account, and Kennedy's money rules let that balance be released to post his own bond.
Keeping Bail After Leaving the Iowa Street Jail
Getting out on bail obliges a Dubuque defendant to follow First District orders until the case closes.
- Conditions from the Dubuque magistrate follow the defendant home. Chapter 811.2 leaves whatever a river-city magistrate ordered at first appearance in effect through sentencing or dismissal unless a First District judge rewrites it.
- An empty seat on Central Avenue is expensive. Failing to show up for a Dubuque County hearing lets the court forfeit the posted sum under 811.7 and sends Kennedy's warrant deputies looking for the defendant.
- Calendar questions. Dubuque County case scheduling at 563-589-4582 assigns hearing slots, which then post to the defendant's docket on Iowa Courts Online.
- An exit for the cosigner. If the person who guaranteed a river-city bond hands the defendant over to Kennedy's jailers ahead of any forfeiture ruling, chapter 811.8 frees that guarantor from further liability.
River-city defendants sometimes juggle an Illinois case in Galena or a Wisconsin case in Lancaster on top of the Dubuque one; for other Iowa courthouses the Judicial Branch court directory helps, while 720 Central Avenue answers 563-589-4418 for the Dubuque County file.
Instructions on how to post Bail or Bond in Dubuque County
How to Post Bail at the Dubuque County Jail
Kennedy's jail office (563-589-4420) can answer three questions before anyone drives downtown with bail money:
- the dollar amount attached to each Dubuque County offense;
- if an Illinois or Wisconsin warrant, a U.S. Marshals detainer or an immigration request means Kennedy keeps the prisoner even once the money is in;
- whether the jail counter takes a cashier's check, cash or a card for bail tonight or only during weekday business hours.
After SF 2399: the whole amount or a chapter 811.3 surety
A Dyersville or Cascade family that cannot gather the whole figure now has two options, since the deposit shortcut died on July 1, 2026: line up a qualified surety, or have the defense lawyer ask Judge Odekirk's district to reduce the number.
No for-profit bonding trade operates in Iowa. Bail money and surety forms in a Dubuque County prosecution belong with the district court clerk at 720 Central Avenue (563-589-4418); the Iowa Street desk explains any evening drop-off arrangement.
Which defender office takes a river-city indictment
A September 1, 2011 entry for Dubuque County on the public defender designation list leaves all indictable adult charges with the agency's own office in the city, while conflict work goes to Waterloo's adult defenders for the two top felony classes, and to Waterloo juvenile or the SDU for the top class alone.
Who can post Bail or Bond for a Defendant at Dubuque County Jail?
Money for a Law Enforcement Center release may come from a parent in Farley, a friend over the bridge in East Dubuque or a coworker in Platteville, and whoever pays should file away the Central Avenue receipt until the case closes.
Signing as surety can leave a relative owing the whole bail if the defendant misses a Central Avenue hearing. An insurer offering to guarantee a Law Enforcement Center release should be checked against the Iowa Insurance Division's records before anyone signs.
A Dubuque teenager's case belongs to the First District's juvenile court staff in Suite 215 at 350 West 6th Street (563-589-7831), not to the Iowa Street jail.