Polk County Jail

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The Polk County Jail is located at 1985 NE 51st Avenue in Des Moines, IA and is a medium security county jail operated by the Polk County Sheriff’s Department.

This site will tell you information about everything a person needs to know about the Polk County Jail, like how to locate an inmate, the jail’s phone number and address, booking and intake procedures, court information, and much, much more.

Top 10 Searches for Polk County Jail

1. Polk County Jail Information
2. Polk County Jail Inmate Search
3. Polk County Inmate Search in Des Moines, IA
4. Polk County Jail Visitation Rules
5. What Are the Visitation Hours for Polk County Jail
6. Discount Polk County Jail Inmate Calls
7. Polk County Jail Care Packages
8. What is Inmate Commissary?
9. How to Send Money to an Inmate at Polk County Jail
10. How to Search Polk County Arrest Records

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to offer information and tips you need to make helping a friend or family member get out of jail a lot easier. If you have specific questions, just ask them, and any feedback or comments that would be beneficial to others is much appreciated.

Polk County Jail Inmate Search

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Who’s In Jail

The Polk County Jail Inmate Search is a list of individuals who have been arrested, which includes current status, and visiting schedule. Also, you are able to get information on anyone processed or released within the past 24 hours. Inmates are listed in alphabetical order by last name. You will be able to locate their inmate information quicker if you have your friend or family member’s full name, birth date, or inmate ID.

Polk County Jail Policies and Procedures

Intake Procedures

The intake process at the Polk County Jail takes you through the following steps:

You will be placed in a holding cell. If the jail is busy, you may not be processed immediately.

First, you must answer a bunch of questions, like what is your full name, your address, birthdate and an emergency contact person, and also, you will also be asked about your mental and medical history. Next, You will be given an inmate ID number and your fingerprints will be taken. Then, all of your personal property will be taken away from you and stored until you get released from jail.

You will get to use the phone so you can contact a member of your family, friend, or loved one.

If they expect that you will make bail and be released quickly, you might be able to wear your street clothes, but if you are not expected to make bail quickly you you will have to wear a jail uniform – the jumpsuit.

Discharge Procedures

Once you are able to post bail, you will get released from jail. The discharge process can take anywhere between 10 minutes to many hours. In simple terms, the faster you can post bail, the quicker you will be released. How quickly you get discharged will depend on if you’ve been given a cash bond or if a judge still needs to decide on the amount of bail to be set. For a minor charge, you will get booked and get released without having to post bail. When you have completed your jail sentence and are given a date of your release, you should plan to be released that morning.

Polk County Jail Visitation

The inmate must provide the name and date of birth of each visitor to the Polk County Jail in advance. Your visitors will go into the visitors log for the inmate. Each and every visitor will be required to provide identification. Any visitors showing up late or any visitors that are not approved to visit will not be able to attend visitation.

Jail visitation policies can change, so you should call the jail at (515) 323-5400 before you go to the jail to visit.

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Visitation Rules

To visit an inmate at the Polk County Jail you have to be added to this person’s approved visitation list.

Make sure to bring your valid driver’s license or government issued ID with you to visitation because you will not be allowed to enter without it.

No phones are allowed at Polk County Jail, and you will be searched before visiting. Personal belongings are not allowed. Anybody probation, parole, or other community corrections supervision must get the permission of both their individual supervising officer and the superintendent before they can visit. Usually is not approved.

If the visitor is under the age of 18 and is a family member of the inmate, they will have to be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate’s extended family. If a visitor is younger than 18 years of age and is not related to the inmate, the minor visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Sending Mail to Inmates

This is what you need to know in order to send letters, photos, postcards, greeting cards and even magazines to an inmate at the Polk County Jail. Incoming and outgoing inmate mail at the Polk County Jail is always searched and inspected for contraband that might threaten the security, safety or well-being of the facility, its staff, and inmates. Inmates can only receive metered, unstamped, plain white postcards no larger than 4″ x 6″ as mail. The writing on the postcard has to be in pencil or blue or black ink. If it has a stamp on it, it will get returned. If you write in green ink, then it will get returned. If you send any other kind of mail will be returned to the sender. If there is no return address on it, then the unauthorized mail will be stored in the inmate’s locker until the inmate gets release.

Do not include any of these things in the mail that you send to an inmate: any kind of threat to jail order, any description of the manufacture of weapons, bombs, incendiary devices, or tools for escape; do not encourage or advocate any kind of violence, hate speech, or racial or ethnic supremacy. Inmates are not allowed to write to other inmates.

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Sending Other Things to an Inmate

There are strict procedures that you must follow to send anything to an inmate at the Polk County Jail. This includes sending money for to spend in the commissary, sending regular mail or photos, sending money for phone calls, and even postcards.

This page covers everthing you need to know about the Polk County Jail to help you follow these procedures and guidelines. If you have questions, or there is something that you were looking for, but did not find, please contact us using the contact link in the site menu.

Public Records

Warrant Inquiry

If you think you have an outstanding warrant, you can check the court records online or call the jail directly. This requires a first and last name. Or, you can just go down to the jail and ask them. Keep in mind that if there is an arrest warrant out for you, you will be taken into custody immediately.

Arrest Record Search

If you know a person’s name, and possibly an arrest date, contact the Polk County jail, on the phone, in person, or you can check online. An arrest is a matter of public record and these records are freely available.

Court Records

Court Records are public, and are accessible by anyone. Court Records include a case file that includes a docket and all documents filed in the case. You are able to access the court records on the internet, or at the clerk’s office of the court in the jurisdiction where the case was filed.

Criminal Records

Each state keeps a record of their state citizen’s criminal past. These state databases are all connected and you can track criminal backgrounds from another state. Go to courthouse and check in person, or check online. It is helpful to know the county, and in the event that it was in a totally different state, you might have to pay for a more intensive search.

A search of someone’s criminal history you are able to find out if someone has been arrested, charged, or convicted for any of the following crimes, drug Possession of drug trafficking, kidnapping, rape or other sexual assault, violent crimes like assault or murder, or theft.

Money & Commissary

The procedure to send money to Polk County Jail jail inmates is likely to change, so we suggest that you double check the Polk County Jail site when send funds to someone in jail there.

How To Send Money to an Inmate at Polk County Jail

You will have your own ‘bank account’ while in jail. This money is used to purchase items from the Commissary. Family and friends can deposit money into this account for you, and any money you earn while in prison will also be deposited into your account. Outside money can be paid in to your account via a money order, cash or check. If someone sends a check or money order, make sure that they write your inmate ID on it. The maximum amount you are allowed in your account is $290 per month.

Guidelines For Sending Money To An Inmate

Before you send any money you should find out what online money transfer companies the jail your inmate is incarcerated in uses. The exact method that the Polk County Jail uses changes frequently, so it is best to call them at (515) 323-5400 to get the current payment method.

You may be required to be on the inmate’s visitation list in order to send them money, and be aware that they may have a limit on how much you deposit at one time, like $200-300 at a time, or a limit on how much money may be in the inmate’s account at one time.

Some of the money transfer firms being used by various facilities include JPay, MoneyGram, AccessCorrections, OffenderConnect, Touchpayonline, JailATM, WU, smartdeposit, and tigercommissary.

If an inmate has fines or are required to pay restitution then they will be subject to garnishment of their commissary/trust account. If the inmate has a garnishment, then money to pay them will be taken from the inmate’s bank account. In some cases it may be a percentage or the entire amount of the obligation, but the actual percentage depends on the circumstances. We recommend that inmates talk to the counselor at their facility and try to find out. You can also try to make an arrangement so that only a percentage of your commissary funds are taken, instead of all your funds take at one time.

Commissary

The commissary is the Polk County Jail store. Inmates can buy several different things here, such as toiletries, snacks and writing supplies. Remember that you will probably want to use the commissary every day, and any infractions will cause you to lose commissary privileges.

The Commissary will sell an assortment of different items that the inmate can buy if they have sufficient funds in their commissary account. These items include clothes, shoes, small snacks and other food items, in addition to personal hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, and disposable razors for shaving. The commissary also sells other things like books and magazines, televisions and radios, playing cards, headphones, MP3 players, and electronic tablets. They also sell everything need to write home to family, friends, and loved ones: paper, envelopes, and stamps. If an inmate is indigent and cannot afford paper and stamps, the jail will provide these things to an inmate who has not had any money in their commissary account for at least 30 days.

Phone Calls & Phone Usage Policy

All phone calls from the Polk County Jail are made through a jail approved pre-paid phone account or phone card . Jail phone calls are generally more expensive than phone calls made outside of jail. There are certain restrictions about when and how often you can use the phone, but inmates must keep in mind that every inmate wants to use the phone too, so they can call their family. If you are under any sort of disciplinary procedure, an inmate’s ability to use the phone may be limited or eliminated completely.

Phone Number: (515) 323-5400

How To Save Money on Inmate Calls

Correctional facility phone service providers have exclusive contracts at every facility that they are the exclusive phone provider for, which means that they they control how much it costs to make phone calls. The money these phone service providers make from all of the phone calls that inmates make are shared with the facility, so there is no incentive for the jail or the counselors at the facility to show inmates or their family how to save money on inmate phone calls at the Polk County Jail. The prices are posted and there are at least two different prices based on where the inmate is calling. These three things will determine the cost of an inmate phone call: Where you are located; Where your inmate is located, What type of phone number you have.

For example, if your inmate is in federal prison, if you get a new local number then this will decrease your inmate’s phone call rate from $.21 per minute to only $.06 per minute.

For the other correctional facilities like state prisons, and local and county jails figuring out how to lower your inmates phone charges is more difficult. ArrestedResources.com keeps up to date with all of the changes that affect your inmate’s rate and in most cases is able to offer you an inmate calling number that will save you a lot of money on inmate phone calls. There are some circumstances where we will not be able to save you money on your inmate calls, and in these cases we will not offer you an inmate calling number. In these cases, the jail has set their inmate calling prices so high that nobody can save you money.

For more detailed information on how to save on inmate calls at Polk County Jail, click the link below.

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