Cass County

The Detention Center

Cass County Jail

• Operated byCass County Sheriff's Office
• Jail address5 West 7th Street, Atlantic, IA 50022 - the same address as the county courthouse
• Beds16, per the county's own Sheriff's Office page
• Facility described asa ground level facility built in April 1984, per the county's own Sheriff's Office page
• Jail phone(712) 243-6960, answered 24 hours, per the county's Sheriff's Office page
• Also listed as'Cass County Corrections (Jail): 712-243-6960' on the county's 911 Communications Center page
• RosterThe Sheriff's Office page publishes a dated inmate roster as a PDF - the current one is labelled 'Inmate Roster 9-17-26'. The page itself was opened; the PDF was not.
• Jail administratorNot named on any Cass County page opened. The elected sheriff is the jailer under Iowa Code 356.2, so jail_administrator is null.
• County domain questionIowa.gov's Local Government directory lists 'https://www.atlanticiowa.com/' for Cass County. That is a community/city portal, not the county. Cass County's own county domain is casscountyia.gov, confirmed by opening https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-departments/sheriffs-office/ and https://www.casscountyia.gov/contact/, both of which identify themselves as Cass County government pages; the county site links to atlanticiowa.com under the label 'COMMUNITY HOME'. No city site is cited here as the county's.
• What was triedhttps://www.atlanticiowa.com/ could not be opened. https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-departments/sheriffs-office/, https://www.casscountyia.gov/contact/ and https://www.casscountyia.gov/county-departments/911-2/ were opened. The county's 'Agendas & Minutes', 'Board of Supervisors' and inmate-roster PDF links were seen on those pages but could not be opened (see notes on method).

Source: Cass County, Iowa - Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-18

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✗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 — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Cass 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 builtApril 1984, per the county's own Sheriff's Office page
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• Beds16

The Sheriff

Sheriff John Westering

• Runs the jailYes - the elected county sheriff. 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.' Iowa Code 331.653(35) repeats it in the sheriff's general duties.
• How the office is filledElective, four-year term (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.
• Keeper's dutyIowa Code 356.5 requires the jail be kept clean and healthful, prisoners furnished bedding, clothing, towels, fuel and medical aid, served 'three times each day with an ample quantity of wholesome food,' given clean fresh water, an account kept of what is furnished, and a matron kept on the premises at all times while any female prisoner is held.
• Source of nameNamed as Sheriff on Cass County's own Sheriff's Office page and again on the county's Contact page (with the office phone 712.243.2206), both on casscountyia.gov, opened September 2026.

Source: Cass County, Iowa - Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-09-18

The Judges

Iowa district judges are merit-selected, not elected in contested races: a district judicial nominating commission under 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; the judge then faces a yes/no retention election and, after winning retention, serves a six-year term. Iowa has 14 judicial election districts for nominating purposes. The official who actually sets bail is a magistrate: 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's 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(s) to four-year terms. The three supervisor appointees are the only voter-accountable link in how the bail-setting official 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 →