Iowa, Winneshiek County
Where Decorah's records are kept. Decorah has its own city government and police department; county and state offices keep its other public records.
Start here
The cards below include Decorah's own offices, along with State of Iowa offices; the Winneshiek County offices are on our Winneshiek County page. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
State records
The State Historical Society of Iowa opens its collection of more than 209 million items, with a catalog of government records, manuscripts, newspapers and photographs, research centers, reference requests and copy orders.
Open official site State Historical Society of Iowa ResearchCounty court
Serving northern Iowa from Cedar Rapids and Sioux City, the court posts its hearing and 341 meeting calendar and decisions and offers electronic claim filing, payment through pay.gov and case information by phone.
Open official site United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of IowaCounty court
Iowa's state court system online: find any county courthouse, search court records, fill in interactive court forms, eFile documents and follow Supreme Court opinions and oral arguments.
Open official site Iowa Judicial BranchVital records
Iowa's Department of Health and Human Services runs Medicaid, food and cash assistance and public health programs, and supplies certified copies of birth, death and marriage records.
Open official site Iowa Department of Health and Human ServicesPolice & jail
The Iowa Department of Corrections explains visiting, phone calls, messaging, mail, money deposits, care packages and voting rights restoration for families of people in prison, and links to its offender search.
Open official site Iowa Department of Corrections Inmate and Family ServicesPolice & jail
Clearinghouse set up in 1985 within the Iowa Department of Public Safety, listing missing persons with age, last contact date and the reporting agency; search by name, gender, race or physical traits.
Open official site Iowa DCI Missing Person Information ClearinghousePolice & jail
Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation registry, the central store of Iowa sex offender registration records since July 1995. Search registrants by last name, first name, alias or ZIP code.
Open official site Iowa Sex Offender RegistryPolice & jail
Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation record checks, on yourself or someone else, cost $15 per last name and need first name, last name and exact birth date; send online, by mail, fax or email.
Open official site Iowa DCI Criminal History Record CheckFederal
Frequently requested Census Bureau statistics for Decorah city, Iowa, covering population, housing, social, economic and geographic topics. The county, the state or the nation can be added alongside for comparison.
Open official site U.S. Census Bureau QuickFactsCity records
Forms and applications, project bids, the city code, ward and zoning maps, bill payment, council meetings and written public comment are on the Decorah site. City offices: 400 Claiborne Dr.
Open official site City of DecorahCity records
Administrative staff directory 400 Claiborne Drive P.O. Box 138 Decorah IA 52101 Phone: (563) 382-3651 Fax:
Open official site Decorah City AdministrationPolice & jail
Decorah Police Department, with the incident reports, record requests and contacts the department publishes.
Open official site Decorah Police DepartmentEverything else, organized
11 more Decorah sources not listed above.
Local record guide
Local profile
Decorah, a place of 7,587 people, is the seat of Winneshiek County. Court and property records sit with Winneshiek County, and birth and death certificates come from the State of Iowa. Decorah's own offices are in the cards above, and our Winneshiek County page lists each county office.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 4 mine sites inside the city or town limits: 2 past producers, now closed, 2 sites producing when the record was made; the old survey maps add 2 holes drawn inside the city or town limits, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; crushed stone.
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.
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
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 15 investigations with a Decorah address since fiscal 2005 and recorded $191,906 in back wages agreed for 157 workers. Snapshot of April 22, 2026; a case here is a finding by the Division, not a court judgment, and the city is the one written on the employer's record.
| Employer | Cases | Back wages | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two Bocks, Inc. | 2 | $74,391 | 53 |
| The Bluffs Inn | 1 | $15,775 | 1 |
| LBR Performance Sports LLC | 1 | $3,790 | 6 |
| Old Armory BBQ, LLC | 1 | $1,459 | 9 |
| Voltmer Inc. | 1 | $635 | 2 |
| Mabe's Pizza, Inc. | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Helof Holm VFW Post-1977 | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| All Season Const Co Inc | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Lowell and James Bruening | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| DBK Trucking & Excavating LLC | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Decorah Ranch, Inc | 1 | $0 | 0 |
Every employer whose address on the record is in Decorah, by back wages agreed; 3 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
Open only the answer you need.
Voter registration in Iowa is run by the Iowa Secretary of State and local election officials. Its site lists the registration deadline, online voter registration, polling places and the local election office for Decorah.
Certified birth and death certificates for events in Iowa come from the state vital records office, Iowa HHS Vital Records. Its site lists who may order a copy, the fee and how to order.
Businesses that operate in Decorah register with the Iowa Secretary of State, which runs the state business entity search. A local business license, where Decorah requires one, comes from the town or Winneshiek County.
Same county
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.