Iowa, county records
Find the right office in Washington 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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Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
County court
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.
Open official site Iowa Federal CasesState records
Search property and claim status by individual name or business thru the state treasurer.
Open official site Iowa Unclaimed PropertyVital 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.
Open official site Iowa Death and Vital RecordsState records
Find active and inactive corporations by name from the Iowa Secretary of State.
Open official site Iowa Business & Corporation SearchVital records
Request a copy of a marriage certificates from the Iowa Bureau of Health Statistics.
Open official site Iowa Marriage SearchLocal record guide
County profile
Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Washington County Sheriff's Office is responsible for maintaining law and order in the unincorporated areas of Washington County.
Police Departments. In addition to Washington County Sheriff's Office, several municipal police departments operate within Washington County.
Law Enforcement & Arrests. Washington County Sheriff's Office, headquartered at 220 West Main Street in Washington, Iowa 52353 (phone: 319-653-7742), provides primary law enforcement services for unincorporated areas and operates Washington County jail facility. To look up inmates currently held at Washington County Jail, the public can contact the Sheriff's Office directly at 319-653-7742 or visit the jail in person during business hours; Washington County does not currently maintain a real-time online inmate roster, though booking information may be available by phone request. Municipal law enforcement agencies serve incorporated communities: Washington County Police Department serves the county seat, while other towns including Wellman, Kalona, Brighton, Ainsworth, and Riverside may contract with the Sheriff's Office or maintain their own police services. Arrest records in Washington County are public records subject to Iowa Code Chapter 22, Iowa's Open Records Law, which presumes all government records are public unless specifically exempted.
Arrest Records. They are maintained by the arresting agency, primarily the County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments.
To search for someone recently arrested in Washington County, Iowa, you can contact the Washington County Jail, which is located at 2185 Lexington Boulevard, Washington, IA. The jail provides an inmate lookup service that can be accessed by calling the facility directly at (319) 653-5902. The Washington area Area Chamber of Commerce (phone: 319-653-3272, website: washingtoniowachamber.com) is a resource for business development, networking, and economic information in Washington County seat and surrounding areas. Washington County court matters are handled by the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Judicial District 8B, located at 222 West Main Street, Washington, Iowa 52353 (phone: 319-653-7741). Property tax records are managed separately by Washington County Assessor's Office, also located in the courthouse at 222 West Main Street (phone: 319-653-7746). The Iowa Bureau of Health Statistics (phone: 515-281-4944, website: idph.iowa.gov/health-statistics) also accepts requests by mail, online through VitalChek, or in person at the state office in Des Moines, with similar fees and processing times of 2-4 weeks for mail requests and faster for online orders (with additional service fees). For formal business entity formation and registration, the Iowa Secretary of State Business Services Division (located at Lucas State Office Building, Des Moines; phone: 515-281-5204; website: sos.iowa.gov) is the primary authority.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 18 mine sites inside the county: 15 past producers, now closed, 3 sites producing when the record was made; the old survey maps add 15 holes drawn inside the county, 2 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are crushed stone; construction sand and gravel.
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.
Washington County lies on the edge of 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
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 21 investigations in Washington County since fiscal 2005 and recorded $59,841 in back wages agreed for 119 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.
| Employer | City | Cases | Back wages | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County Iowa | Washington | 1 | $17,179 | 13 |
| Brenneman Pork, LLLP | Washington | 1 | $9,799 | 18 |
| El Serito, LLC | Washington | 1 | $8,561 | 16 |
| J & L Construction, L.L.C. | Washington | 1 | $6,856 | 1 |
| Optimae Lifeservices, Inc. | Washington | 1 | $5,493 | 1 |
| The Captain's Table | Washington | 1 | $2,390 | 18 |
| WCDC, Inc. | Washington | 1 | $2,229 | 27 |
| All American Auto Center, LLC | Washington | 1 | $2,078 | 13 |
| Mellinger Custom Cabinetry LLC | Wellman | 1 | $2,021 | 4 |
| Whitesell Corporation | Washington | 1 | $2,007 | 3 |
| Iowa Bridge & Culvert, L.C. | Washington | 1 | $250 | 2 |
| Washington Nursing and Rehabilitation Center | Washington | 1 | $82 | 1 |
| Maplewood Manor Incorporated | Keota | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Patterson Structural Movers, Inc. | Washington | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Twaddle Contracting, Inc | Washington | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| Cobb Oil Co., Inc. | Washington | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| The Outlet, Inc. | Washington | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| County Line Mart, LLC | Keota | 1 | $0 | 0 |
| MidWest Poly-Solutions LTD | Riverside | 1 | $0 | 0 |
Every employer on the Washington County record, by back wages agreed; 4 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.
Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Washington County Sheriff or a city police department in Washington County. Ask that agency for its record.
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.
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.
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.
Deeds and other recorded land documents in Washington County are kept by the Washington County recorder. Property values are set by the local assessor, and tax bills come from the county treasurer. Source: official state page.
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.
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
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.