Crawford County

The Detention Center

Not found — the county does not name its jail on its own site

• Operated byCrawford County Sheriff's Office
• Does the county run a jailYes, on the evidence of its own board minutes — part-time jailers on the sheriff's payroll, a jail flooring project covering the control and booking areas, and recurring payments for 'Prisoner Meals', 'Prisoner Meds', 'Prisoner Appt' and 'Jail Supplies'
• Where it isThe sheriff operates from the Law Enforcement Center, 1202 Broadway, Suite 3, Denison, IA 51442
• Central Iowa Detention Center 28E agreementNot corroborated on Crawford County's own site. Four county pages and three sets of board minutes were opened and none mentions a 28E agreement, the Central Iowa Detention Center, or boarding adult prisoners out
• Detention payments that do appearJuvenile detention only — 'NW Iowa Youth Emergency Serv Ctr Detention/Transport' and 'Youth Shelter Care of North Central Iowa, Inc Detention'. A separate vendor named 'Central Iowa Distributing Inc' is paid for 'Jail Supplies'; it is a supplier and is not the Central Iowa Detention Center
• What was triedhttps://www.crawfordcounty.iowa.gov/ ; https://www.crawfordcounty.iowa.gov/sheriff/ ; https://www.crawfordcounty.iowa.gov/departments/ ; https://www.crawfordcounty.iowa.gov/about/elected_officials/county/ ; and board minutes for 2019-10-08, 2025-08-15, 2026-01-13 and 2026-04-14

Source: Crawford County Board of Supervisors minutes, August 15, 2025 · checked 2026-09-18

• ✗The jail is named — not published
• ✗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 — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Crawford 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
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Roger Rasmussen

• Runs the jailYes — county board minutes record 'Part-Time Jailers in the Sheriff's Department' and a jail flooring project for the 'control area, judges chamber, and booking area'
• How the office is filledElected; the county's elected-officials page lists the sheriff with a term ending 2028
• Law Enforcement Center1202 Broadway, Suite 3, Denison, IA 51442

Source: Crawford County — County Elected Officials · checked 2026-09-18

The Judges

Iowa district judges are merit-selected: a district judicial nominating commission (Iowa Code ch. 46) sends the governor two nominees, the governor appoints one, and the judge then faces a yes/no retention election and a six-year term. Bail at first appearance is set by a magistrate under Iowa Code 804.22, and 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, two attorneys elected by the county's attorneys) and Iowa Code 602.6403 has that commission appoint the county's magistrates to four-year terms. The three supervisor appointees are the only voter-accountable link in how the bail-setting magistrate got the job. No magistrate was named on a Crawford County or court source opened for this entry.

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 →