Benton County Jail Overview
The Benton County Jail is operated by the Benton County Sheriff's Office. The facility is at 113 E. 3rd Street, Vinton, IA 52349, in the same law-enforcement center location used by the sheriff's office. Sheriff David Upah is listed as sheriff, and Captain Russell "Rusty" Denison is listed as Jail Administrator in the research. The jail is a county jail, not a state prison, federal prison, or separate work-release center.
People held at Benton County Jail can include local pretrial detainees after Benton County arrests, people serving county jail sentences, work-release inmates approved by the sheriff, contract inmates accepted under county agreements, and people awaiting transfer to another custody level. The facility map found no separate city jail, regional jail, state prison, BOP prison, ICE facility, or independent work-release annex in Benton County. The Iowa DOC Sixth Judicial District has a Benton County community-supervision office in Vinton, but that office is not a detention facility.
The official jail page is the main local source for visitation, mail, money, phone accounts, bond schedule, work release, court-ordered jail time, fingerprinting, and CDL alcohol testing. The jail page does not publish a current inmate roster, current population count, current capacity, pod map, construction date, or public profile inventory.
Benton County Jail Capacity
Current county-published capacity and live population were not located on Benton County's official jail page. The strongest high-authority capacity figure in the research is the Vera/BJS 2019 county trend row, which reports rated capacity of 38 and jail population of 33 for Benton County. That figure is a historical trend benchmark, not a live jail count. Vera/BJS data also reports 29 pretrial detainees and 4 sentenced inmates in the 2019 row, which fits the jail's role as a pretrial and short-sentence county facility.
Recent county board minutes add context, but not a live count. July 1, 2025 minutes approved a 28E agreement to house up to 10 Polk County inmates at $60 per day through June 30, 2027, subject to Benton County discretion. January 20, 2026 minutes discussed federal inmate room-and-board revenue and jail food-company savings. Those items show operational use beyond only Benton County arrestees, but they do not prove a specific current population.
Look Up Benton County Jail Custody
No official Benton County online inmate roster was located on the county or sheriff website. A possible Central Iowa Police to Citizen inmates page appeared in research, but direct access was rejected and the official Benton County pages did not expose a verified local roster link in the fetched text. For current Benton County Jail custody, the first official route is the jail phone line. Iowa Courts Online is for filed charges after the case is entered, and Iowa DOC Offender Search is for sentenced state custody or supervision, not new jail bookings.
- Call Benton County Jail at 319-472-2337, option 2, for current custody, release, bond, visitation, fingerprinting, or court-ordered jail time questions.
- Have the person's full legal name, date of birth if known, and approximate arrest date or arresting agency if known.
- Ask whether the person is held at Benton County Jail, has bonded out, was transferred, is serving scheduled time, or is held for another agency.
- Use Iowa Courts Online for filed charges, court dates, dispositions, fines, and case events once the case exists.
- Use Iowa DOC Offender Search only after a state prison sentence, commitment, or supervision status is involved.
VINELink can support custody-status notification, but it is not a full booking-record source. Federal and immigration custody require separate systems: the BOP locator for sentenced federal prisoners and ICE ODLS for immigration custody. No official Benton County Sheriff app with inmate roster, warrant, or mugshot lookup was found in official county sources.
Benton County Jail Contact
The Benton County Jail and Sheriff's Office share the same public address in Vinton. Administrative office hours are not the same as visitation hours, so verify the purpose of the trip before arriving. The jail phone route is the right contact for current custody and jail-specific services.
Benton County Jail
113 E. 3rd Street
Vinton, IA 52349
319-472-2337, option 2
Jail information, visitation, fingerprinting, CDL testing, bond, and court-ordered jail time.
Benton County Sheriff's Office
113 E. 3rd Street
Vinton, IA 52349
319-472-2337
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
The official jail page screenshot below comes from the Benton County Jail information page.
The jail page is the source for the local visitation, mail, money, phone, bond, work-release, fingerprinting, and testing rules summarized here.
Benton County Jail Visitation
Benton County Jail publishes in-person visitation blocks and visitor rules. All visitors must have photo ID. No more than three visitors may visit at one time. A visitor under 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian. Visits are limited to 20 minutes, with no more than three 20-minute visits per week, counted Sunday through Saturday. Electronic-device use during an inmate visit is prohibited, and a violation causes loss of visitation privileges for the inmate.
| Day | Hours | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Monday-Thursday | 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.; 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. | In-person public visitation |
| Friday-Sunday | 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. | In-person public visitation |
No official Benton-specific remote video visitation schedule was located. The county references CPC/InmateSales for prepaid phone accounts, but the research did not establish a Benton County video visit schedule.
Note: Confirm custody and visitation status with the jail before travel, especially near holidays, weather closures, or release changes.
Benton County Jail Mail and Money
Benton County Jail changed standard non-legal mail routing effective November 15, 2024. Friends and family mail goes to a processing address in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Legal mail and money orders go to the jail address in Vinton. Mail must include inmate name, inmate ID, and return address. The jail page says mail that does not meet the rules may be destroyed and not returned.
| Mail Type | Address / Detail |
|---|---|
| Standard non-legal mail | Inmate Name - Inmate ID; Benton County Jail, IA; PO Box 76550; Highland Heights, KY 41076. |
| Legal mail and money orders | Inmate Name - Inmate ID; Benton County Jail; 113 E. 3rd Street; Vinton, IA 52349. |
| Format limits | No larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, light card stock or thinner, sheet-feed scannable, with return address. |
| Permitted enclosure | Up to 10 photographs per package, printed on photo paper, if not provocative. |
Money and phone accounts use separate channels. Money can be left through the Stellar Teller machine in the front vestibule of the Benton County Sheriff's Office or online through JailATM. Prepaid phone accounts are set up through CPC/InmateSales or by calling 877-998-5678. The county page does not publish Benton-specific commissary order days, deposit limits, tablet details, or vendor fee schedules.
| Service | Official Benton County Detail | Missing Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Lobby deposit | Stellar Teller machine in front vestibule. | Machine hours, fees, and accepted payment types not published. |
| Online deposit | JailATM is referenced by the jail page. | Service fee and deposit limits not captured. |
| Phone funding | CPC/InmateSales or 877-998-5678. | Rates and call rules not published on the county page. |
| Commissary orders | Not described in the county source. | Order schedule and item limits not located. |
Benton County Jail Bond
Benton County Jail publishes a bond schedule, but a person should call the jail before arriving or paying a bonding agency. Court conditions, no-contact orders, no-bond status, and holds from another county, state, federal, probation, parole, or immigration agency can affect release. The jail schedule lists Class A felony and domestic abuse/no-contact order violation as no bond. Iowa Code Chapter 811 and the court's current order control release.
| Topic | Benton County Detail |
|---|---|
| Simple misdemeanor | $300 listed bond. |
| Serious misdemeanor | $1,000 listed bond. |
| Aggravated misdemeanor | $2,000 listed bond. |
| Class D / C / B felony | $5,000 / $10,000 / $25,000 listed bond. |
| Class A felony or domestic abuse/no-contact violation | No bond listed. |
Work release is a jail program, not a separate Benton County facility. It requires a work-release agreement and sheriff approval. The inmate should contact the Benton County Correctional Center about two weeks before scheduled surrender for an interview and no later than three days before surrender. The research records in-county work-release room and board at $75 per day plus $15 per day monitoring in the PDF, with out-of-county orders at $85 per day plus $15 per day monitoring. The February 24, 2026 county fee resolution also set jail room-and-board, booking, work-release, electronic-monitoring, and medical fees effective March 1, 2026, so fee source and date matter.
Benton County Jail Booking
Benton County does not publish a full step-by-step booking procedure, but the county and state sources support the main sequence. After arrest, the person may be transported to Benton County Jail unless another agency or facility is responsible. Jail intake confirms identity and booking basis. The jail's mail rules show that an inmate ID is used for correspondence and account purposes. Iowa Code Section 690.2 requires fingerprints for fingerprintable offenses and allows law enforcement photographs within statutory limits.
After booking, the case moves toward initial appearance. Iowa court guidance says an initial appearance usually occurs within 24 hours after arrest. The Benton County Attorney page says the defendant is advised of charges and possible legal consequences, can apply for court-appointed counsel, may receive a no-contact order in sexual or domestic abuse cases, and receives a preliminary hearing date and bail conditions. That first court event is where jail custody and court records begin to overlap.
Benton County Jail vs DOC
Benton County Jail is for local jail custody. The Iowa Department of Corrections is the route for sentenced state prisoners and community supervision. No Iowa state prison is located in Benton County; Iowa DOC lists prisons in Anamosa, Clarinda, Fort Dodge, Mitchellville, Coralville, Fort Madison, Mount Pleasant, Newton, and Rockwell City. Benton County belongs to Iowa DOC's Sixth Judicial District for community supervision, with a Benton County office at 811 D Ave. #25 in Vinton, but that office is not a jail or prison.
| Custody Type | Where to Search | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Benton County pretrial or county sentence | Benton County Jail phone and sheriff records route. | Local jail custody and booking information. |
| Iowa prison or supervision | Iowa DOC Offender Search. | Sentenced state custody or community supervision. |
| Federal prison | BOP Inmate Locator. | Federal sentenced custody, not new local booking. |
| Immigration custody | ICE ODLS. | Immigration detention; no ICE facility was found in Benton County. |
| Notification | VINELink. | Custody-status notification, not a complete roster. |
Benton County Jail Arrival
The jail is in Vinton near the Benton County civic core. The Benton County Courthouse is at 111 E. 4th Street, and the jail/sheriff's office is at 113 E. 3rd Street. County sources do not publish detailed visitor parking, transit, or ADA entrance instructions. Visitors who need accessible entry details, parking guidance, or special accommodation information should call the jail before arriving.
Regional approaches to Vinton include U.S. 218 / Iowa 150, U.S. 30, and local Vinton streets, but official county sources do not provide turn-by-turn jail directions. Use the published jail address for navigation and confirm any visit, bond, money, or records purpose before travel.
Note: Administrative office hours, public visitation periods, and jail service availability are separate schedules. Call before making a trip.