Jefferson County Correctional Facility Inmate Bail & Bonds

Search VINELink by name, or phone 888-742-8463. For confirmation, or for charges VINE has not yet posted, call the jail at 641-472-3967. Our inmate search page offers other ways to search.

Before anyone sees a judge, the figure is taken from Iowa's uniform bond schedule: $300 on a simple misdemeanor, $1,000 on a serious one and $2,000 on an aggravated one, rising to $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000 for class D, C and B felonies. At the initial appearance an Eighth Judicial District magistrate can keep that number or set another.

Certain charges carry no schedule amount at all, so the jail cannot accept money on them until a judge sets conditions. That group covers forcible felonies, domestic abuse assaults, breaking a protective or no-contact order, and stalking, plus sexual abuse in its first, second or third degree, methamphetamine dealing, production or possession with intent, dangerous-weapon intimidation, and a prohibited person found with a firearm.

Call 641-472-3967 first to learn the exact amount and what form of payment the officers will take that day. Bond can be paid in full or written by a licensed bail agent. Use the east entrance and east parking lot of the Law Center.

Yes, for sentenced time. Jefferson County bills $35 for each day served, $10 for each workday on work release and a $10 convenience fee for every 24 hours, and these are combined when more than one applies. Inmates from other counties are billed at $65 a day.

Since July 1, 2026, personal-recognizance release in Jefferson County is reserved for simple and serious misdemeanors free of any violent or drug component; a new medical-need exception was also written in. Release below the schedule, or in any other form, now requires the judge's written reasons. The schedule figures have not changed yet, and an inflation proposal from the Judicial Council is due to the Supreme Court on July 1, 2027.

The clerk is in the Jefferson County Courthouse, 51 E. Briggs Avenue, Suite 5, Fairfield, IA 52556, phone 641-472-3454, email countyclerk.jefferson@iowacourts.gov. The courthouse is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

The court can issue a warrant and have the bond paid in, though Iowa Code 811.6 gives 30 days' written notice before that becomes final. Not showing up is a separate crime too: it is graded as a class D felony when the defendant was charged with a felony, otherwise as a serious misdemeanor.

After the final hearing, provided no date was missed, the clerk refunds cash bail to the depositor, minus whatever the judge assigns to fines, costs or restitution. For jail account deposits, read our money guide.

Federal cases from Jefferson County are heard in Des Moines by the Central Division of Iowa's Southern District, 111 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50309; the clerk's number is 515-284-6248. Iowa Code chapter 27A requires jails to honor ICE detainers, so release on state bond may not mean going home. See the ICE locator.

Juvenile court decides release instead of a bond list. If detention is ordered, the youth is placed at South Iowa Juvenile Detention, 2528 255th Street, Montrose, IA 52639, 319-463-7417, with a hearing within 1 working day.