Official Cass County Jail Roster
The official Cass County roster channel is the Cass County Sheriff's Office page. In the materials reviewed, the sheriff page linked to a dated PDF labeled as an inmate roster, not to a live search screen, and listed John Westering as sheriff. The inspected PDF was titled "Inmate Roster - Booked and Released" and identified the Cass County Sheriff's Office at the top. That matters for expectations: there is no official name search box, advanced search tab, public API, sort tool, profile page, or mugshot gallery in the county roster format reviewed.
The roster is a custody and booking report for Cass County Jail. It can include current inmates and people released during the date range shown on the PDF. A listed charge is a booking or custody label, not the final court disposition. The sheriff's office directs disposition questions to Iowa Courts Online, so readers checking whether a charge was filed, amended, dismissed, or resolved should use the court system rather than treating the jail PDF as the case record.
The stable starting point is the sheriff page because individual PDF URLs change as new roster files are posted. The dated sample reviewed for this build was the inmate roster PDF for June 12, 2026. Older PDFs used the same general layout, including a date range, roster rows, charge lines, and population totals. If a newly arrested person does not appear, the absence may mean the file has not been replaced yet, the person was released outside the current range, or the person is in a different custody system.
How to Use the PDF Roster
For users asking how do I find someone in the Cass County jail, the practical route is to treat the county roster as a document search. Open the current file from the sheriff page, read the date range first, then use the PDF viewer's find command for the last name. The county does not provide a roster search form where a user can enter last name, booking number, date of birth, or facility.
- Open the official Cass County Sheriff's Office page and find the section for Cass County Jail, current inmates, and PREA information.
- Select the current inmate roster link. The link text changes by date, so the sheriff page is more reliable than bookmarking an old PDF.
- Open or download the PDF, then check the date range near the top before reading any entry.
- Use the PDF or browser find tool to search by last name. Try alternate spellings if the name is hyphenated, shortened, or includes a middle name fragment.
- Review the row fields and charge lines under the person's name. The county labels the local identifier as ID Number, not booking number.
- Look for a Date Released value. A released person may still appear because the report is a booked-and-released roster for the period.
- If the name is missing or the status is urgent, call Cass County Jail at (712) 243-6960 instead of relying on the PDF alone.
- For case disposition, bond orders, filed charges, or hearing information, move to Iowa Courts Online.
Roster Field Table
Because Cass County uses a PDF roster, the correct field inventory is a document-column inventory rather than a search-form inventory. The PDF has no required search field and no optional filters. The public fields visible in the official roster sample are listed below.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Booked In | PDF column | n/a | Date and time of jail entry as printed on the roster. |
| Date Released | PDF column | n/a | Blank if the person was not released during the roster period; filled when a release occurred. |
| Cell | PDF column | n/a | Values observed include A, B, C, HOLD, and REC. The official PDF does not define those codes. |
| Inmate Name | PDF column | n/a | Name appears in uppercase, generally surname followed by first name and middle/name fragment. |
| ID Number | PDF column | n/a | Local jail identifier. Do not rename it as a booking number unless another official record uses that label. |
| Age | PDF column | n/a | Numeric age only. Date of birth and physical description are not shown. |
| Charges | Numbered text lines | n/a | Short charge labels appear below the row. They may be abbreviated or truncated. |
| Period totals | Summary fields | n/a | Bookings, releases, beginning population, and ending population appear at the bottom. |
| Printed | Footer | n/a | Printed date and page number for the PDF. |
What a Roster Record Shows
Cass County does not publish a click-through inmate profile in the roster files reviewed. The sample inmate-profile inventory is therefore a profile-by-absence table: what the PDF row gives, what it does not give, and where a user should look next. This distinction keeps the jail record separate from the court record and from state or federal custody records.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking date/time | Shown as Date Booked In. This is the clearest intake timing field on the county roster. |
| Release date/time | Shown only if release occurred during the report period. A blank field is not a full legal status explanation. |
| Name | Shown in uppercase roster format. Use the spelling here when searching Iowa Courts Online. |
| ID Number | Shown as a local numeric jail identifier. It is not labeled as a court case number or DOC offender number. |
| Age | Shown. Sex, race, date of birth, height, weight, hair, and eye color are not shown. |
| Charges | Shown as short labels under the entry. Examples in the research included abbreviated labels such as disorderly conduct, interference with official acts, emergency communication obstruction, and domestic abuse assault. |
| Cell | Shown as a short roster value. The county does not define the codes in the PDF, so they should not be converted into housing-unit claims. |
| Mugshot | Not shown. The official Cass County roster PDFs reviewed do not display booking photos or thumbnail images. |
| Bond | Not shown. Contact the jail and check court records for current release orders or bond information. |
| Court disposition | Not shown. The sheriff's office does not provide disposition through the roster; use Iowa Courts Online or the clerk. |
Phone and Records Fallbacks
The roster is useful, but it is not the only official access channel. For immediate custody status, use the jail phone. The 24-hour jail line is (712) 243-6960. For sheriff administrative records, the research found no dedicated online sheriff records portal or sheriff records request form. The practical route is to call the Cass County Sheriff's Office at (712) 243-2206 during business hours and be specific about the requested record type. In-person sheriff or jail business starts at the courthouse address, but users should call first because after-hours dispatch can answer lines while routine administrative records are normally handled during business hours.
A useful request should include the person's name, approximate booking date, and whether the request is for a roster entry, booking record, incident report, accident report, or booking photo. Iowa's open-records framework may allow access to arrest and booking information, but an agency can still apply confidentiality limits. If the question is about a formal case outcome, the better route is court records. The Cass County Clerk of Court page and Iowa Judicial Branch county directory provide the local court contact path.
Record limit: The roster is not a warrant search, bond ledger, sentence calculator, or court docket. Confirm sensitive decisions with the originating office.
County Jail, DOC, Federal, and ICE
Cass County Jail is the local sheriff-operated custody point for people arrested by county agencies, pretrial detainees, short local sentences, holds, and booked-and-released entries. After a person is sentenced to state prison or placed in state correctional supervision, the county PDF is no longer the main lookup source. The Iowa Department of Corrections Offender Search is the statewide search route for DOC offenders and supervision records.
Federal and immigration custody are separate systems. The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator covers federal inmates from 1982 to the present. ICE uses the Online Detainee Locator System, which searches by A-number or by name with country of birth and birth date. Neither federal route is a Cass County jail roster, and neither should be used to infer local jail custody.
| Custody Question | Where to Look | What It Is Not |
|---|---|---|
| Local booking, release, or current Cass County Jail custody | Current PDF roster from the sheriff page, then Cass County Jail phone if uncertain | Not a court disposition or live database |
| Formal case status, filed charges, hearings, disposition, or court financial records | Iowa Courts Online and Cass County Clerk of Court | Not a jail housing record |
| State prison, parole, probation, or DOC supervision after sentencing | Iowa DOC Offender Search | Not a county jail roster |
| Sentenced federal inmate | BOP inmate locator | Not a local sheriff custody list |
| Immigration detention | ICE Online Detainee Locator System | Not an Iowa DOC or Cass County search |
| Custody or case notifications | IowaVINE through VINELink or 888-742-8463 | Not a replacement for the roster or court record |
Cass County Jail Contact Card
The county facility list for this project has one jail: Cass County Jail. Official sources did not identify a separate Cass County work-release annex, regional jail, state prison, federal prison, or ICE detention facility inside the county. Atlantic Police Department may arrest people, but the jail roster and custody phone route are sheriff-run.
Cass County Jail
5 West 7th Street
Atlantic, IA 50022
(712) 243-6960
Operator: Cass County Sheriff's Office
Roster: dated PDF linked from the sheriff page
Sheriff Records Route
5 West 7th Street
Atlantic, IA 50022
(712) 243-2206
Use during business hours for sheriff administrative records, report copies, and booking-record questions.
Booking and Release Timeline
Cass County does not publish a detailed jail intake manual, so the safest explanation comes from the public roster and sheriff materials. A person may be arrested by the sheriff's office, Atlantic police, Iowa State Patrol, or another agency, then transported to Cass County Jail. Jail intake creates or updates the jail record, logs the Date Booked In field, assigns the local ID Number shown on the roster, and records short charge labels.
Booking does not always mean a person remains overnight. Sheriff release language in the research included booked-and-released examples and booked-and-held examples. The public roster reflects that by including a Date Released field when release occurred during the report period. Release may depend on recognizance, bond, court order, warrant status, probation or parole hold, or another agency hold. The roster does not show the actual bond method, accepted payment route, or release conditions, so current instructions should come from the jail and court record.
Visitation Schedule Status
Official Cass County sources reviewed did not publish jail visitation hours, a public visitor application, a video visitation provider, or an attorney-visit schedule. That gap should not be filled with generic hours from another jail. Call the jail before traveling, bringing property, or arranging a visit. State prison visitation rules are different and apply only after a person has moved into Iowa DOC custody.
| Visit or Contact Type | Published Cass County Status | Practical Route |
|---|---|---|
| In-person public visitation | No official schedule located | Call Cass County Jail at (712) 243-6960 before arrival. |
| Video visitation | No official county video-visitation page located | Do not assume video visits are available unless jail staff confirm. |
| Attorney visitation | No public attorney-visit schedule located | Attorney should contact the jail directly. |
| State DOC prison visitation after transfer | Published by Iowa DOC, not Cass County Jail | DOC requires visitor applications and scheduling through Ameelio for prison visits. |
Mail and Commissary
The sheriff page says inmates may receive correspondence at the jail address. It also links to InmateCanteen or TurnKey Commissary, but the inspected county page did not publish a deposit fee table, kiosk hours, ordering schedule, phone-call provider, or complete mail rejection list. Use the jail phone before sending money, restricted items, medication, or property.
| Item | Official Local Information | Cautious Use |
|---|---|---|
| Mail address | Cass County Jail, 5 West 7th Street, Atlantic, IA 50022 | Confirm inmate name and ID formatting with the jail before mailing. |
| Commissary | Sheriff page links to InmateCanteen / TurnKey Commissary | County page did not publish current fees or deposit instructions. |
| Money deposits | No official county fee schedule located | Call the jail before using any payment site. |
| Phone calls | No official county phone vendor located | Ask the jail for provider, account setup, rates, and restrictions. |
| State prison mail and money | Iowa DOC has separate Pigeonly, CorrLinks, Access Corrections, JPay, and Western Union rules | Use only after DOC transfer. Do not apply those rules to Cass County Jail. |
Confirm first: Verify custody status and current jail instructions before sending funds, mail, property, or visit requests.
VINE and Mobile App Status
The sheriff page links to IowaVINE and describes it as a custody-status search and notification service. IowaVINE is useful when a person wants notification rather than repeated manual roster checks, especially because a PDF roster is not a live database. VINE is still a notification tool, not the final court record and not a substitute for calling the jail when immediate custody status matters.
No official Cass County Sheriff's Office mobile app or Atlantic Police Department app was found in the official source sweep. No app-only roster, warrant search, most-wanted list, records request route, or jail notification feature should be implied for Cass County. The only app-related item in the research was Iowa DOC's use of Ameelio for state-prison visits, which applies after prison transfer and not to the local Cass County Jail roster.