The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office maintains an inmate roster for the county jail at 451 14th Avenue NE, Le Mars — a 70-bed facility with six pods. Search the roster by name to confirm current custody. For court case filings, the Plymouth County Clerk of District Courts handles all criminal records in Judicial District 3.
Looking for someone booked tonight? See If someone was just booked tonight for phone-first contact info.
Searching the Plymouth County jail roster
The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office publishes an inmate roster on its website. Booking date, charges, and the person’s name are typically visible to the public. Mugshot availability varies by booking. The roster does not display sealed or juvenile records.
- Go to the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office website.
- Navigate to the Inmate Roster section.
- Search by last name or browse the current list.
- Confirm the booking date and listed charges match the person you are looking for.
The Plymouth County Courthouse is open Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, and free parking is available in the lot and on the street. The Sheriff’s Office administrative line operates Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4:30 PM, with a 24-hour phone line available through the Sheriff’s Office for after-hours custody inquiries.
What the roster does (and doesn’t) show
A new booking at the Plymouth County Jail can take time to appear on the online roster. Processing, data entry, and system updates all happen after the physical booking is complete, so a name absent from the roster does not confirm the person is not in custody. Call the Sheriff’s Office directly to verify a recent arrest that has not yet appeared online.
The roster covers people currently held at the Plymouth County Jail. It does not include individuals serving Iowa Department of Corrections sentences at a state prison, people held in federal custody, or anyone whose record has been sealed or expunged. Juvenile detentions are also excluded. Iowa Courts Online — the statewide docket search — shows criminal case filings for Plymouth County but is an index of proceedings, not a custody list; a case appearing there does not mean the person is currently jailed. Booking photos may appear in the official record but are subject to agency policy on what is posted publicly.
Families dealing with a booking that happened tonight face a specific version of that lag problem — the roster may not yet reflect it, and the questions that matter most right now go beyond what any online list can answer.
If someone was just booked tonight
The Plymouth County Jail holds 70 people across six pods at 451 14th Avenue NE in Le Mars. That’s where your brother is most likely being processed right now. Reach the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office through the Sheriff’s Office website for the current jail line — the phone is staffed around the clock. Calling tonight confirms whether he is in custody and can tell you when the first appearance before a magistrate is scheduled. That first appearance is where bond is decided; you cannot get a bond amount by calling tonight, and no one can give you one before a judge sets it.
Waiting is genuinely hard. Visitation at the Plymouth County Jail is not available on the night of booking — plan to check visiting hours starting the next day through the Sheriff’s Office. If he has been transferred to an Iowa DOC facility rather than remaining at the county jail, the Iowa Department of Corrections inmate family services page covers visiting procedures for state prisons.
Tomorrow morning, take these steps in order:
- Call the Plymouth County Courthouse Clerk of District Courts at (712) 546-4215 — the office opens at 8 AM — to ask when the first appearance is scheduled and whether a case number has been assigned.
- Attend the first appearance if you can. Bond conditions, if any, are set there.
- Contact an attorney if you have not already. The Iowa State Bar Association lawyer search and the Iowa State Public Defender office locator are both free to use.
Iowa law starts from a presumption of release — a magistrate must find a specific reason to require cash bail rather than a personal recognizance bond. That doesn’t mean release is guaranteed, but it does mean the first appearance matters. Get there if you can.
If the person isn’t on the Plymouth County roster
Why might someone not appear on the Plymouth County roster right away?
The most common reason is timing. Booking is a physical process, and the online roster reflects it only after data entry is complete. A name can be absent for a period after an arrest while processing is still underway.
- Iowa DOC transfer: If the person is serving a sentence rather than awaiting trial, they may be held at a state prison. Search the Iowa Department of Corrections inmate lookup at Iowa Department of Corrections offender search.
- IowaVINE custody notification: VINELink at VINELink tracks custody status across Iowa county jails and state prisons and is the most useful single check when you are unsure which facility holds someone.
- Neighboring county: An arrest by a city police department in a border area may result in booking at a different county’s jail. Check adjacent county rosters — Woodbury, Cherokee, Sioux, O’Brien, or Ida — if the arrest location is near a county line.
- Federal custody: Federal charges result in booking at a federal detention facility, which never appears on a county roster. The Bureau of Prisons inmate locator covers federal detainees.
- Already released: Iowa uses a bond schedule that allows release before a first appearance in some cases. The person may have been released on their own recognizance or on a pretrial bond before the roster was updated.
If you can’t find them in Plymouth County
The Plymouth County roster and Iowa statewide tools cover in-state custody. A nationwide records search may help surface custody records in other states or federal facilities that Iowa portals cannot reach — useful when you are uncertain where an arrest occurred.
This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.
Sponsored: Nationwide Records Search (we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you).
Resource comparison: Plymouth County custody and records
| Resource | What it confirms | What it won’t show | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office inmate roster | Current county jail custody; booking date; charges listed at booking | State prison inmates; federal detainees; sealed or juvenile records; bookings not yet entered | Search by last name; call the Sheriff’s Office if the name is absent but arrest is recent |
| Plymouth County Courthouse 📞 (712) 546-4215 |
Case number; first appearance date; Clerk of District Courts records | Custody status; bond amount before first appearance | Call during business hours (M–F, 8 AM–5 PM) for case status |
| Iowa Courts Online Search | Criminal case filings and proceedings for all 99 Iowa counties including Plymouth | Custody status; expunged or confidential cases; actual documents (in-person terminal only) | Search by name; note case number for Clerk follow-up |
| Iowa Department of Corrections inmate lookup | State prison custody for sentenced offenders | County jail detainees; federal detainees; pretrial holds | Search if the person may be serving a sentence rather than awaiting trial |
| VINELink | Custody status across Iowa county jails and state prisons; release notifications | Federal custody; records not yet entered into VINE system | Use when uncertain which facility holds the person; register for release alerts |
Related Plymouth County resources
Nearby counties
Sources
Sources verified 2026-11-10:
- Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office — inmate roster and jail information
- Plymouth County Clerk of District Courts — court records and case filings
- Iowa Courts Online Search — statewide docket index
- Iowa Judicial Branch — Plymouth County, Judicial District 3 — district court information and bail bond board
- Iowa Department of Corrections offender search — state prison custody lookup and family resources
- VINELink — statewide custody notification service
To report an error or outdated information: corrections page.
How is bond set for someone booked into the Plymouth County Jail?
Bond is decided at the first appearance before a magistrate in Iowa District Court. Iowa law starts from a presumption of release — a magistrate must find a specific reason to require cash bail rather than a personal recognizance or unsecured appearance bond. When a cash deposit is allowed, it may be set at no more than ten percent of the full bond amount, but that is not a universal rule for every case. No one can tell you the bond amount before the first appearance. Call the Plymouth County Courthouse Clerk of District Courts at (712) 546-4215 to find out when the first appearance is scheduled.
Who holds someone arrested in Le Mars or another Plymouth County city — the city police or the Sheriff?
City police departments in Plymouth County — including Le Mars — make arrests, but the county jail is operated by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office. A person arrested by Le Mars police will typically be booked into the Plymouth County Jail at 451 14th Avenue NE, Le Mars, not held at a city facility. Search the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office roster to confirm custody, regardless of which agency made the arrest.
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