Polk County IA Jail

Polk County IA Jail basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 515-323-5400

This facility is for adult inmates.

The Polk County IA Jail is a medium-security detention center located at 1985 NE 51st Pl Des Moines, IA which is operated locally by the Polk County Sheriff's Office and holds inmates awaiting trial or sentencing or both. Most of the sentenced inmates are here for less than two years. Polk County accepts inmates from surrounding towns, municipalities, the US Marshal's Service and the Des Moines Police Department who do not have their own long-term lock-up.

The Polk County Jail is a 1,500-bed facility and the ability to expand capacity an additional 1,000 beds to handle the projected increase of Polk County’s inmate population through at least 2030. The jail is a direct supervision facility.

The Polk County Jail is the largest facility of its kind in the state of Iowa and takes advantage of the latest advances in security and jail design to house and manage inmates. The jail has full on-site kitchen and laundry facilities and houses medical services.

In 2012, Polk County and the Sheriff’s Office collaborated with Bridges of Iowa, a non-profit substance abuse treatment program, to provide an out of custody treatment program in an attempt to reduce inmate recidivism rates. Polk County allowed Bridges of Iowa to facilitate the use of unoccupied space in the jail facility building for their treatment program. To date, the program has had a positive impact on treating inmates, in lieu of incarceration. Polk County and the Sheriff’s Office continue to look at ways to reduce recidivism rates through partnerships with community based programs as alternatives to incarceration. By addressing the root cause of behaviors we believe that we can continue to lower our repeat offenders.

Each inmate may have a total of five (5) photographs in their personal possession. Photographs must be 4" x 6" or smaller to be accepted. The Jail will NOT accept Polaroid type photos. Photos must be mailed to the inmate. We will not accept them in person.

visitation Info

Polk County Jail – Visitation

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office visitation program is provided courtesy of iWebVisit.com and offers on-site and remote visits between citizens and inmates. Video Visits are conducted on video terminals that are located within the detention center lobby.  It should be noted that participating in the on-site visiting program is not a guarantee of availability as booking times and space are limited. 

On-Site Visitation – Inmates are allowed two (2) twenty (20) minute On-Site social visits per week.

Each adult must visit separately unless the visitors are parents or grandparents, then you may visit together as one visit. Children seventeen years of age and younger may visit if accompanied by their parent. The week runs Sunday through Thursday.

IN ORDER TO VISIT YOU MUST PRESENT A VALID STATE/GOVERNMENT ISSUED ID EVERY TIME.

YOU MUST CHECK IN AT LEAST 30 MINUTES BEFORE THE START OF THE LAST VISIT. VISITING IS SUBJECT TO MONITOR AND TIME AVAILABILITY.

On-site Visitation Hours

Sunday: 8:30am – 10:30am, 12:30pm to 2:30pm

Monday-Thursday: 8:30am – 10:30am, 1:00pm – 2:30pm

Friday & Saturday: NO ON-SITE PUBLIC VISITATION

**Remote visits are available through iwebvisit.com at the visitor’s expense and are available daily (8:00am – 10:00am, 12:00pm – 4:30pm, 6:00pm – 10:00pm).  Inmates may have 2 remote visits per day.

Visitation hours may be adjusted on holidays or due to other events.

Before being permitted to visit an inmate you will be required to register for an iWebVisit.com account.  If you have internet access, you can visit iWebVisit.com and create your account in advance to save time.

You can also create an account at the On-Site visiting center. When you arrive at the Polk County Jail, you will need to provide a valid government issued ID along with, but not required, a valid email address if you have one. Policies concerning the iWebVisit.com system are evolving and changes affecting the implementation of the service may be modified if needed, without prior written notice.

Once you are registered, you will receive an e-mail (if one was provided at the time of registration) welcoming you to the iWebVisit.com Remote Visitation System. At this time you will be provided with further instructions and information about the benefits of remotely visiting your loved ones.

Click Here for The Visitation Rules and Guidelines for both on-site and off-site Remote Visiting.

Off-Site Remote Visitation

Off-site Visitation Hours

Sunday – Saturday 8:30am – 10:00pm

NO VISITS ARE ALLOWED During the Following Times every day:  11am-12pm, 3pm-4pm and 5-6pm

Visitation hours may be adjusted on holidays or due to other events.

Engaging in illegal or illicit (to include disrobing and/or sexual behavior) will result in the visit being terminated. This visitor will be blocked from any further visits to any inmate confined in the Polk County Jail and is subject to criminal charges.  The inmate may also be charged with violation of the visiting rules and their visiting privileges terminated for the duration of their incarceration.

Inmates are allowed 2 remote visits per day.

Inmate availability is based on housing unit rules and/or disciplinary status.

The cost is $11.00 for a 30-minute interval for standard visitors and $25.00 per 30-minute interval for qualified professionals.

Once a visit has started and is canceled or terminated by the Facility for failure to comply with visiting rules a credit voucher will not be issued.

Remote visits are non-refundable.

All off-site visits must be scheduled at least one day in advance.*

You may schedule a remote visit up to 3 weeks in advance.

*Qualified Professionals have the ability to schedule a remote visit with 1 hour notice.

SAME-DAY REMOTE VISITS FOR STANDARD VISITORS ARE PROHIBITED

 ALL NON-PROFESSIONAL VISITS ARE SUBJECT TO MONITORING AND RECORDING