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Webster County, Iowa Public Records

Find the right office in Webster 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 Webster County records

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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
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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
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Local record guide

About public records in Webster County

County profile

Webster County at a glance

State
Iowa
County seat
Fort Dodge
Population
36,999
Area
718 sq mi
Founded
1853
Cities and towns
13

Webster County offices and records

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

Police Departments. Webster County is served by several law enforcement agencies, including Webster County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments such as the Fort Dodge Police Department, Gowrie Police Department, and Dayton Police Department.

Law Enforcement & Arrests. Law enforcement in Webster County is primarily provided by Webster County Sheriff's Office, headquartered at 1014 1st Avenue South, Fort Dodge, IA 50501. Citizens can contact the Sheriff's Office for general inquiries. Inmate lookup services are available by calling the jail directly or visiting the facility during business hours; some third-party websites may provide Webster County jail roster information, though official inmate information should be verified through the Sheriff's Office. Municipal law enforcement is provided by the Fort Dodge Police Department, serving Webster County seat and largest county, located at 819 1st Avenue South, Fort Dodge. Smaller communities in Webster County may contract with the Sheriff's Office for law enforcement services. Arrest records in Webster County are public records subject to Iowa Code Chapter 22, Iowa's Public Records Law, which establishes that most government records are public unless specifically exempted.

Criminal Records. For an authoritative source, see Civil Process - Sheriff .

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 Webster County

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

From the old mine records

What is on record in Webster County

Old mine sites
50
Sites with no status in the records
2
Past producers, now closed
49
Processing plants, closed
1
Producing when recorded
15
Processing plants, not workings
5
Worked underground, in the mine records
10
Main minerals
construction sand and gravel; Gypsum-Anhydrite; Clay
Holes drawn on the old survey maps
59
Shafts and tunnels
0
What they are
gravel pit, quarry, clay pit, sand pit
Maps surveyed
1965 to 1979
Records behind them
132 records for 131 sites, the rest are the same working written down more than once

Is an old working under a property here?

The mine records hold 72 mine sites inside the county: 49 past producers, now closed, 15 sites producing when the record was made, 6 processing plants, which are not workings, 2 sites with no status in the record; the old survey maps add 59 holes drawn inside the county, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; Gypsum-Anhydrite; Clay.

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.

Calhoun County Fort Dodge Coalville Lehigh Duncombe Moorland Gowrie Badger Harcourt Dayton Callender N 10 miles
Webster 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 Webster County (59 shown, 72 unnamed on the map)

Webster 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 Webster County

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 59 investigations in Webster County since fiscal 2005 and recorded $176,638 in back wages agreed for 278 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
59
Back wages agreed
$176,638
Workers due back wages
278
Civil money penalties
$18,590
Employers on the record
46
EmployerCityCasesBack wagesWorkers
Creative, Inc.Fort Dodge1$70,83998
Corporate Protective Services, Inc.Fort Dodge1$18,65425
White Transfer and Storage CompanyFort Dodge1$14,17623
Lyndi, LTDFort Dodge1$11,86811
Weatherspoon CleaningFort Dodge2$8,0440
Iowa Mortgage Express CorpFort Dodge2$7,5845
Quality Health Care Specialists, Corp.Fort Dodge3$7,4219
Iowa, State of-Department of CorrectionsFort Dodge1$6,9006
Grell Roofing, LLCFort Dodge1$6,7744
Smitty's Lawn & Landscape Services, LLCFort Dodge1$6,42311
Was Broken Pallet Company, IncMoorland1$4,37814
Advanced Heating and Air Conditioning IncFort Dodge1$2,6641
The Gator Center, Inc.Fort Dodge1$1,7121
Sports Page Bar & Grill, Inc.Fort Dodge5$1,69319
MIDAS Council of GovernentsFort Dodge1$1,6258
Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Mercury Toyota, Inc.Fort Dodge1$1,4596
Community Day Care & Preschool CenterFort Dodge1$1,3655
S.A.M.S. Vending, LLCFort Dodge1$1,0473
Tracey's Tots Daycare CompanyFort Dodge2$9857
Friendship Haven, Inc.Fort Dodge2$78217
HCM, Inc./Grandview Health Care Center, Inc.Dayton1$6791
Decker Truck Lines, Inc.Fort Dodge1$6581
MMDB, IncFort Dodge1$65113
Hickory House of Fort Dodge, LLCFort Dodge1$1513
QHC Fort Dodge Villa LLCFort Dodge1$1291

The 25 employers with the most back wages agreed, of 46 on the Webster County record; 14 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record here. The 21 more with smaller records are on the Iowa wage theft records page, whose search answers for every employer in the state.

Straight answers

Webster County public-records FAQs

Open only the answer you need.

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

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

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

Deeds and other recorded land documents in Webster County are kept by the Webster 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 Webster 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 Webster 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.