Audubon County Inmate Population Overview
Audubon County uses one primary local detention facility, the Audubon County Jail, operated by the Audubon County Sheriff's Department. County sources place the sheriff and jail at the Audubon courthouse complex, and the official staff page identifies Chief Deputy David Beane as jail administrator. Research did not find a separate work-release center, municipal jail, state prison, federal prison, or ICE detention center inside Audubon County. That makes the local custody picture simpler than in larger counties, but it also means each lookup path must be chosen with care.
The Audubon County inmate population starts with people booked into the county jail after a local arrest, warrant service, court hold, or short sentence. If a person is convicted and sentenced to Iowa prison, the record moves to the Iowa Department of Corrections locator rather than a county jail roster. If the person is held on a federal matter, federal pretrial custody may involve the U.S. Marshals Service, and sentenced federal custody moves to the Bureau of Prisons. Immigration detention is separate from the sheriff's jail and is searched through ICE systems.
Audubon County Inmate Population Statistics
Audubon County does not publish a current daily jail dashboard, booking-count report, average length-of-stay report, or jail demographic report in the official county sources reviewed. The best local figures come from the official county sheriff department-history text indexed from auduboncountyia.gov and from the Vera Incarceration Trends county dataset. Those sources do not use identical capacity fields. The county-indexed text describes a 12-bed jail, while Vera's 2019 row lists rated capacity as 9 and total jail population as 13.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Official county-described jail capacity | 12 beds | Official county department-history text indexed from auduboncountyia.gov, accessed June 2026 |
| Vera rated capacity | 9 | Vera Incarceration Trends county CSV, 2019 |
| Vera total jail population | 13 | Vera Incarceration Trends county CSV, 2019 |
| Vera total jail admissions | 40.5 | Vera Incarceration Trends county CSV, 2019 estimate/interpolation |
| County population context | About 5,500 residents | USAFacts / Census Bureau estimate page, 2025 estimate refreshed April 6, 2026 |
The Vera Audubon County trends page is useful because it preserves historical county jail rows that the county does not publish in a daily dashboard. It should not be read as a live roster. A decimal admissions figure in that dataset is a dataset estimate, not a booking log from the sheriff's office.
Audubon County Inmate Population Trends
The Audubon County inmate population is small enough that a few people can change the rate picture. Vera shows single-digit jail counts for many years, then a 2019 row with 13 people against Vera's rated capacity field of 9. The county's own indexed text describes 12 beds, so the safest reading is not that one source defeats the other. It is that capacity labels differ by source and year.
| Year | Total Jail Population | Rated Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 13 | 9 | Newest populated Audubon row found in Vera CSV |
| 2018 | 6 | 9 | Lower county jail count |
| 2017 | 5 | 9 | Single-digit local jail count |
| 2016 | 4 | 9 | Single-digit local jail count |
| 2015 | 4 | 9 | Single-digit local jail count |
| 2010 | 5 | 9 | Historical county row |
These figures also explain why percentages can mislead. A change from four people to six people is only two additional people, yet it can look like a large percentage jump. Audubon County's rural setting and small jail mean the local count can shift with one weekend of arrests, one court calendar, or one transfer to state custody.
Who Makes Up Audubon County Inmates
Official county-indexed text says the jail houses male and female inmates and out-of-county inmates as needed. The research did not locate a county-published split for pretrial versus sentenced status, felony versus misdemeanor status, age, race, or average stay. Vera's 2019 row has subcategory fields that do not cleanly sum to the total jail population, so the demographic fields should be treated as incomplete public data rather than a reliable local demographic report.
- Local pretrial custody: people arrested in or held for Audubon County before court action or release.
- Short local sentences: people who may serve a county-level sentence or local jail time.
- Out-of-county inmates: county-indexed text says the jail houses them as needed.
- State prisoners: people sentenced to Iowa prison leave the county jail search path and move to the DOC locator.
Note: In a small jail, public demographic percentages can be unstable because one or two people can change the whole table.
Audubon County Jail Capacity
Capacity is one of the most important Audubon County inmate population facts, and it is also one of the facts that needs careful wording. The county's indexed department-history text describes the Audubon County Jail as a 12-bed facility with separate cell blocks, a holding room, an isolation cell, and camera monitoring by dispatchers. Vera's 2019 dataset uses a rated-capacity field of 9 for that year. The page returned an error during direct inspection, so the indexed county text should be cited with that access caveat when the department-history source is discussed.
No official recent jail expansion project, consent decree, Department of Justice investigation, jail litigation item, or local jail construction plan was found in official sources. State prison overcrowding numbers from Iowa DOC daily statistics belong to DOC institutions, not to the Audubon County Jail. That distinction matters because a statewide DOC capacity table cannot be applied to a county jail that the sheriff operates under Iowa jail law.
Audubon County Jail Laws
Iowa law explains why jail and inmate records are partly public yet not always posted online. Audubon County does not appear to publish a live roster, but that does not mean jail records do not exist. It means the practical route for booking records is the sheriff's office, the jail phone line, or a public-records request under Iowa open-records law.
Key Statutes:
Iowa Code Chapter 22 gives the public the right to examine and copy public records unless another law makes a record confidential.
Iowa Code Chapter 356 places charge and custody of county jail prisoners with the sheriff and governs Iowa jails.
Iowa Code section 904.601 makes Iowa DOC inmate records public information for sentenced state offenders.
Investigative files, juvenile records, sealed cases, search-warrant materials, and expunged records can change what is released. For county jail facts, the custodian may also charge reasonable costs under Chapter 22. When the question is a formal conviction or statewide criminal history, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation product is separate from a local booking record.
Search Audubon County Jail Custody
No official Audubon County online jail roster, booking list, mugshot gallery, or inmate-search form was found on the county website. That finding changes the lookup order. For a person believed to be in the Audubon County Jail now, the first official channel is the sheriff's main number or an in-person request at the sheriff's office. The jail can confirm what it is allowed to release, explain whether a records request is needed, and route bond or release questions to the right office.
- Call the Audubon County Sheriff's Department at 712-563-2631 and ask whether the person is currently held.
- Ask whether bond, release status, booking date, or booking record details can be released by phone.
- Use Iowa VINE / VINELink for custody notifications where participating-agency data is available.
- Search Iowa Courts Online for charges filed after the booking.
- Use Iowa DOC Offender Search if the person may have been sentenced to state custody.
Audubon County Roster Fields
Because no official Audubon County roster was located, there are no inspected county search fields, filters, result tabs, mugshot profiles, sort controls, or release-retention rules to describe. The correct table for the county jail is therefore a no-roster table. State and court systems do have fields, but they answer different questions.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| No official Audubon County jail roster located | Not applicable | Not applicable | The county sheriff page publishes contact information only; no public inmate profiles were found. |
| Iowa DOC name fields | Text | Optional/unspecified | Use for sentenced state custody, not recent county jail booking. |
| Iowa VINE offender name or ID | Text | Unspecified | Use for custody notifications if agency data is available. |
| Iowa Courts Online defendant name | Text | Last name rules apply | Use for court cases and filed charges, not jail housing status. |
For a statewide view, the Iowa DOC daily statistics page reports prison counts and capacity. That page is useful for state custody context, but it does not show the current Audubon County jail population.
Audubon County Jail vs Prison
Many failed inmate searches happen because the user starts in the wrong system. Audubon County jail custody is local and short term. Iowa DOC custody is for sentenced state offenders. Federal and immigration custody use still different databases. A name may be absent from the county jail path because the person was released, transferred, sentenced, or never held by the county sheriff.
| Custody Type | Who Holds the Person | Where to Search |
|---|---|---|
| Recent local arrest | Audubon County Sheriff's Department | Call the sheriff or visit the sheriff's office; no official online county roster was found. |
| Filed court charges | Iowa District Court in Audubon County | Iowa Courts Online or the Audubon County Clerk of Court. |
| Sentenced state custody | Iowa Department of Corrections | Iowa DOC Offender Search by name, offender number, location, offense, or county of commitment. |
| Federal sentenced custody | Federal Bureau of Prisons | BOP Inmate Locator. |
| Immigration detention | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | ICE Online Detainee Locator. |
Audubon County Booking to Court
A jail booking is not the same as a court case. After an Audubon County arrest, the jail record covers intake and custody. The court record begins when a complaint, information, indictment, citation, or other filing reaches the Iowa court system. The official county court page says the clerk maintains the docket and notes that Audubon County moved from manual bound docket books to ICIS electronic docketing on November 1, 1996. That detail helps explain why older court records may require clerk help.
The court path also affects bond. Iowa law provides for release on personal recognizance, unsecured appearance bond, surety, cash in lieu of bond, conditional release, and no-release holds where the court or another agency prevents release. A bond amount does not prove guilt. It is a court condition while the case is pending. For custody status and local release handling, start with the sheriff. For filed case entries, use the clerk or Iowa Courts Online.
State and Federal Inmate Search
The Iowa Department of Corrections runs the state offender search for sentenced state prisoners. DOC says its records are public under Iowa Code section 904.601, but the search page also warns that information is believed accurate, not warranted, updated weekly, and subject to quick change. County of commitment can include Audubon, but that field does not mean the person is still in Audubon County. It means the prison commitment is tied to that county.
Federal searches are narrower. The BOP locator covers federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present, including sentenced federal prisoners. Federal pretrial detainees may be in U.S. Marshals custody and housed through contracts because the Marshals Service says it does not own or operate detention facilities. ICE searches require the ICE locator or contact with ICE ERO if the locator does not show the person.
The Iowa DOC inmate and family services page is the better source for prison visiting, mail, money, phone, packages, and attorney contact once a person leaves county custody. County jail visitation and money rules do not automatically transfer to DOC facilities.
Audubon County Detention Facilities
Only one local facility was resolved from the Audubon County facility map. That facility is the sheriff-operated county jail. No state prison, federal prison, ICE detention center, municipal jail, or regional jail inside Audubon County was found in official sources.
- Audubon County Jail - county jail for local pretrial detainees, short-term sentenced inmates, warrant holds, out-of-county inmates as needed, and local custody questions.
The official Audubon County Sheriff's Department page is the local starting point for jail contact information. The official staff page names Sheriff Todd W. Johnson and Chief Deputy David Beane, and the county directory entry gives the same sheriff contact route.
Audubon County Source Screens
The official sheriff page is the county source for the jail and sheriff contact channel. The screenshot below comes from the Audubon County Sheriff's Department page, which lists the sheriff office contact path used when no online roster is published.
This source supports the phone-first jail lookup path for the Audubon County inmate population and keeps local custody separate from court, DOC, federal, and immigration searches.
For population context, the Vera page gives the historical county jail rows used above. The screenshot below comes from the Vera Audubon County incarceration trends page.
The Vera data is a historical research source, not a live jail roster or proof that a specific person is in custody today.
Audubon County Inmate Population FAQ
Does Audubon County publish a jail roster?
No official Audubon County online jail roster was found in the sources reviewed. Use the sheriff's phone line, in-person contact, Iowa VINE, Iowa Courts Online, and public-records requests as the official fallback chain.
How big is the Audubon County jail?
Official county-indexed department-history text describes a 12-bed jail. Vera's 2019 dataset lists rated capacity as 9 and total jail population as 13, so source and year matter.
Where do sentenced Audubon County inmates appear?
Sentenced state prisoners are searched through Iowa DOC Offender Search. Use Audubon as county of commitment only when that field fits the case.
Are federal or ICE detainees listed by Audubon County?
No. Federal sentenced inmates are searched through BOP, federal pretrial custody is a Marshals issue, and immigration detention uses ICE systems.