Benton County

The Detention Center

Benton County Jail

• Operated byBenton County Sheriff's Office
• Jail address113 E. 3rd Street, Vinton, IA 52349; phone 319-472-2337, option 2
• Published bond scheduleBond amounts run from $300 for a simple misdemeanour up to no bond for a Class "A" felony and for domestic abuse / no-contact-order violations
• Bonding agencies listhttps://www.bentoncountyia.gov/files/sheriff/bonding_agencies_30885.pdf
• Money and phone accountsDeposits via a Stellar Teller machine or JailATM.com; prepaid inmate phone accounts through CPC (inmatesales.com, 877-998-5678). Video visitation is offered with a published conduct-rules document. No rate schedule is published for phone, video visit or commissary.
• Work release / jail credit formshttps://www.bentoncountyia.gov/files/sheriff/work_release_agreement_form_96748.pdf and https://www.bentoncountyia.gov/files/sheriff/jail_credit_form_89763.pdf
• Beds / year builtNot found — no capacity figure and no construction date is published
• What was triedhttps://www.bentoncountyia.gov/sheriff/jail/ ; https://www.bentoncountyia.gov/sheriff/ and its sub-pages (civil division, staff, sex offenders, weapon permits, sheriff sales, links and resources, other services, FAQ); https://www.bentoncountyia.gov/board_of_supervisors/ ; https://www.bentoncountyia.gov/board_of_supervisors/meetings_minutes/ . No roster, no PREA audit, no IDOC inspection report and no corrections budget document was found.

Source: Benton County — Jail, Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-18

• ✓The jail is named
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✗Independent inspection — not published
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✓How to post bond
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Benton County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-09-18. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

• Year builtNot found
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found. County jails in Iowa run on county property and local taxes; no federal funding is claimed here.
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff David Upah

• Runs the jailYes — the elected sheriff, under Iowa Code 356.2 ("The sheriff shall have charge and custody of the prisoners in the jail or other prisons of the sheriff's county") and Iowa Code 331.653(35)
• How the office is filledElected to a four-year term under Iowa Code 331.651; the sheriff must be a certified peace officer or complete basic training within a year, and on a vacancy the first deputy assumes the office

Source: Benton County — Sheriff · checked 2026-09-18

The Judges

Iowa's district judges are merit-selected, not elected in contested races: a district judicial nominating commission (Iowa Code ch. 46 — five electors appointed by the governor, five elected by the resident bar, chaired by the judge of longest service) sends the governor two nominees, the governor appoints one, and the judge then faces a yes/no retention election and six-year terms. Iowa has 14 judicial election districts for nominating purposes. Bail at first appearance is set by a magistrate, not a district judge: Iowa Code 804.22 requires an arrested person to be taken 'without unnecessary delay...before the nearest or most accessible magistrate,' who 'shall fix the amount of bail or other conditions of release.' Iowa magistrates are appointed, not elected — Iowa Code 602.6501 puts a magistrate appointing commission in each county (one district judge, three members appointed by the county board of supervisors, and two attorneys elected by the county's attorneys), and Iowa Code 602.6403 has that commission appoint the county's magistrate or magistrates to four-year terms. The three supervisor appointees are the only voter-accountable link in how the official who sets bail got the job. Judges are state judicial officers, not county officials, and are not added to the vote line.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-18

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

• What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
• What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
• The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →