Iowa, county records

Appanoose County, Iowa Public Records

Find the right office in Appanoose County. Court cases, deeds and parcels, sheriff and jail records, vital records and county filings, each linked to the office that keeps them.

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Most requested Appanoose County records

Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.

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Showing 8 official sources

Official

County court

Iowa Federal Cases

Iowa has two federal trial courts, the Northern District at Cedar Rapids and Sioux City and the Southern District at Des Moines; their case files are searched through PACER.

uscourts.gov
Open official site Iowa Federal Cases
Official

Police & jail

Appanoose County Sheriff

Appanoose County Sheriff, the elected county law enforcement office, with incident reports, warrants and jail information as the office publishes them.

appanoosecounty.iowa.gov
Open official site Appanoose County Sheriff
Official

Vital records

Iowa Death and Vital Records

Iowa HHS Vital Records issues certified birth, death and marriage records filed since July 1, 1880, by mail, in person or through VitalChek, for a fee per copy.

hhs.iowa.gov
Open official site Iowa Death and Vital Records
Official

Property records

Appanoose County Recorder

Appanoose County Recorder, the office that records deeds, mortgages and land documents, with its index and copy rules as published.

appanoosecounty.iowa.gov
Open official site Appanoose County Recorder

Local record guide

About public records in Appanoose County

County profile

Appanoose County at a glance

State
Iowa
County seat
Centerville
Population
12,317
Area
516 sq mi
Founded
1843
Cities and towns
4

Appanoose County offices and records

Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Appanoose County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Appanoose County.

Police Departments. In addition to Appanoose County Sheriff's Office, law enforcement in Appanoose County is provided by municipal police departments in cities like Centerville and Moravia.

Law Enforcement & Arrests. Appanoose County Sheriff's Office, located at 201 North 12th Street in Centerville, Iowa 52544, is the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas of Appanoose County. Inmate information and jail rosters can be obtained by contacting the Sheriff's Office directly during business hours, as Appanoose County maintains limited online inmate lookup capabilities.

Arrest Records. They are maintained by the arresting agency, primarily the County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments.

Abandoned mine records

Old mine workings in Appanoose County

Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.

From the old mine records

What is on record in Appanoose County

Old mine sites
24
Past producers, now closed
24
Producing when recorded
6
Processing plants, not workings
2
Worked underground, in the mine records
1
Main minerals
crushed stone; Clay; Zinc
Holes drawn on the old survey maps
38
Shafts and tunnels
2
What they are
quarry, open pit mine, mine shaft, adit
Maps surveyed
1966 to 1979

Is an old working under a property here?

The mine records hold 32 mine sites inside the county: 24 past producers, now closed, 6 sites producing when the record was made, 2 processing plants, which are not workings; the old survey maps add 38 holes drawn inside the county, 2 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are crushed stone; Clay; Zinc.

A point in either file is a location, not a property line: the sheet shows the opening on the surface, not the rooms under it. The record that shows what runs under a parcel is the mine map. The OSMRE National Mine Map Repository holds scanned underground mine maps and answers requests for a named mine or an area. Coal was mined in Iowa from the 1840s to 1994.

Centerville Mystic Cincinnati Moravia Moulton Exline Unionville Plano Numa Udell N 10 miles
Appanoose County: the boundary from the Census Bureau, and one dot for each old mine or hole on record inside it. The purple dots come off the old survey maps and the darkest of those are shafts and tunnels; the red, green and orange ones are mine records. The small open circles with a name are the towns and the pale shapes around the edge are the neighbouring counties, both from the Census Bureau. Hover a dot for its name.
Iowa mine map and abandoned mine records
Named workings recorded in Appanoose County (25 shown, 45 unnamed on the map)

Rows taken off the old survey maps open the USGS record of what sits at that spot, because no single feature on those maps has a page of its own. Rows from the mine records open their own USGS page.

Appanoose County sits over the Western Region coal field and the coal there is medium and high volatile bituminous, worked underground in many places. The two federal files record a shaft, an adit or a deposit where one was drawn on a survey sheet or catalogued as a site; neither file carries the outline of the workings, so the counts above are not the measure of what was mined under this county. The record that shows it is the mine map, held by Iowa DNR Iowa Coal Mines map and linked below.

Iowa abandoned mine maps ranks every county and town in the state by the workings recorded inside it, names the office that holds the mine maps, and says what to do if the ground moves.

Disclaimer: The mine information here is for general information only. Old mine records can be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and finding nothing here does not mean there is nothing there. Check with the mine map office named here before you rely on it, and have a qualified engineer look at any ground you are worried about. PublicRecordCenter.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of this information.

Labor Department file

Wage and hour cases in Appanoose County

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 13 investigations in Appanoose County since fiscal 2005 and recorded $18,952 in back wages agreed for 82 workers. The county is the one the Census Bureau puts each employer's ZIP code in. Snapshot of April 22, 2026; a case here is a finding by the Division, not a court judgment.

Investigations closed
13
Back wages agreed
$18,952
Workers due back wages
82
Civil money penalties
$7,820
Employers on the record
12
EmployerCityCasesBack wagesWorkers
The Shoe Tree, Inc.Centerville1$8,4857
R & R salvageCenterville1$3,3822
M.R.K. Enterprise, Inc.Centerville1$3,0973
Tenco Industries, Inc.Centerville1$1,25849
Tenco, IncCenterville1$1,1382
Golden Age Inc.Centerville1$1,11315
GKi LLCCenterville1$4794
ALDI IncCenterville3$00
Catholic Health InitiativesCenterville1$00
Pizza Hut of Centerville, Iowa Inc.Centerville1$00
Rathbun Restaurant Management Corp.Centerville1$00
H G CorporationCenterville1$00

Every employer on the Appanoose County record, by back wages agreed; 2 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record in this row. The Iowa wage theft records page ranks the whole state.

Straight answers

Appanoose County public-records FAQs

Open only the answer you need.

Where can I find mugshots or booking photos in Appanoose County, Iowa?

Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Appanoose County Sheriff or a city police department in Appanoose County. Ask that agency for its record.

How do I get a criminal background check in Appanoose County, Iowa?

The Iowa criminal history record comes from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation. Name based request by mail, fax, email or in person with first name, last name and exact date of birth; the online request site is down for an upgrade and phone requests are not taken. Fee: $15 per last name.

How can I look up sex offenders in Appanoose County, Iowa?

Search the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, or every state at once on the National Sex Offender Public Website run by the U.S. Department of Justice.

How do I register to vote in Appanoose County, Iowa?

Register with the county auditor or through the Iowa Secretary of State. You can also register online with the state online registration. Pre registration closes 15 days before the election; you may also register and vote on election day at the polling place for your address with proof of identity and residence.

How do I look up property records in Appanoose County, Iowa?

Deeds and other recorded land documents in Appanoose County are kept by the Appanoose County recorder. Property values are set by the local assessor, and tax bills come from the county treasurer. Source: official state page.

How do I get a birth or death certificate in Appanoose County, Iowa?

Certified birth and death certificates for Iowa come from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Health Statistics. County Recorders can issue certified copies of all Iowa births from 1986 to the present and of deaths and marriages from 1954 to the present; earlier records come from the county where the event occurred. By mail or in person at Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Health Statistics, Lucas State Office Building, 1st Floor, 321 E. 12th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0075, at a County Recorder, or online through VitalChek, the only authorized third party vendor. Fee: $20.00 for each certified copy.

How do I find business license records in Appanoose County, Iowa?

Business entity filings are searched with the Iowa Secretary of State. Iowa does not have a general business license; licensing depends on the nature of the business or occupation.

Same county

Cities, towns and neighboring counties

Use the city page when a record was created by a municipal police department or city office; use the county page for courts, deeds, vital records and jail custody.