The search returns Newton but never says whether that means the medium prison or the release centre, and the two have different visiting days. Start with a name below and we will find them.
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Iowa’s offender search does most of what a family needs. It confirms custody, gives an age, an offense, a tentative discharge date and the latest parole board decision, and it lets you narrow to Newton through the Location dropdown. What it will not do is tell you which of Newton’s two units your person is in, and at this facility that is the single most consequential gap, because the medium prison and the Correctional Release Center visit on different schedules a mile apart.
Set Location to Newton Correctional Facility in Iowa’s statewide offender search. You can also search with Pigeonly.
Iowa’s dropdown has a single Newton entry, and it covers the whole site: the medium-security prison and the Correctional Release Center, which prepares people for parole, work release or discharge and sits a mile down the same road at its own address.
The search does not distinguish between them. A result saying Newton could mean either building.
At most prisons, not knowing the exact unit is a minor inconvenience. At Newton it decides your Saturday.
The medium facility visits in three fixed slots. The Correctional Release Center visits in one long window. Their video days are different too. Turn up on the right day at the wrong building and the visit does not happen.
So before you book anything, call 641-792-7552 and ask which unit they are in. While you are on the phone, ask their TIP level as well, because Newton is the only Iowa prison that ties the number of visits a week to housing level, and the search does not publish that either.
Three modes, and the third earns its place.
Starts With is the default and takes a partial name.
Matches demands it exactly.
Sounds Like finds names spelled differently and pronounced the same, which is the one to use when the spelling came to you second hand.
Sex and County of Commitment narrow a long list. County of Commitment is where the case originated, not where the person is now.
Iowa adds its own note beside any parole interview date: contact Board of Parole staff to confirm it.
A record with the right name but no location, no offense and no dates almost always means they have been released.
Iowa keeps released people in the database and empties those fields rather than deleting the record. It reads like a fault and it is an answer.
Iowa publishes a daily count, and Newton’s is worth seeing because the site is really two entries.
On September 9, 2026, Iowa listed Newton-Medium at 930 people against a capacity of 762, with 197 in medical or segregation status, the highest such figure at any Iowa prison. Directly beneath it sat a Minimum line at 343 against a capacity of 252, which corresponds to the Correctional Release Center.
Both units are running well above capacity, which is the practical reason a location can change without much warning.
Iowa’s search disclaimer says information is updated on a weekly basis and may change quickly. Another Iowa DOC page tells families a transfer shows within 24 hours of the move.
Both are official and they disagree, and neither page acknowledges the other. Given that Newton is five miles south of town off Interstate 80 and most visitors drive, confirm by phone before you travel rather than trusting a result that might be several days old.
They are in county custody. People awaiting trial or sentencing are held by a county, and this search does not reach county rosters.
The spelling is different. Switch to Sounds Like.
They were released, which is the blank record above.
They were transferred. Set Location back to All and search again. Newton runs above capacity in both units, which makes moves more likely.
They are in federal custody. Iowa has no federal prisons, so the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) locator is a separate search entirely.
The offender number and the legal name spelling, and then two things the search cannot give you: which unit and which TIP level.
Those four together are what every other process at Newton runs on. The mail routing line needs the name and number. A money order to Fort Dodge is returned without them. The visiting schedule needs the unit, and how often you can come needs the level.
6 of 7 questions
Use Iowa's statewide search at doc-search.iowa.gov and set the Location dropdown to Newton Correctional Facility. One dropdown entry covers the whole site. If you are not sure Newton is where they are, leave Location on All, because the result will tell you which of Iowa's nine prisons holds them.
Inmate SearchNo, and at Newton that is the gap that matters. The site holds both a medium-security prison and the Correctional Release Center, a mile apart with different visiting schedules, and Iowa's search shows one Newton location covering both. Call 641-792-7552 and ask which unit before booking anything.
Inmate SearchAlmost certainly a release. Iowa keeps released people in the database and empties the location, offense and date fields rather than removing the record. It reads like a broken search and it is actually the answer, though confirm by phone if a release would surprise you.
Inmate SearchNo. Newton ties how many visits a week somebody gets to their housing level, but Iowa's offender search publishes no housing unit and no level. You have to ask, either the person themselves or the prison on 641-792-7552. Without it you cannot tell whether they get one visit a week or three.
Inmate SearchUse the Sounds Like name mode, which matches names pronounced the same and spelled differently. Iowa also offers Starts With, the default, for a partial name, and Matches for an exact one. Adding sex or County of Commitment cuts down a common surname.
Inmate SearchBoth units run over capacity. On September 9, 2026 Iowa listed Newton-Medium at 930 people against a capacity of 762, with 197 in medical or segregation status, the highest such figure of any Iowa prison. The minimum unit, which corresponds to the Correctional Release Center, held 343 against a capacity of 252.
Inmate SearchCall first. Iowa's search disclaimer says information is updated on a weekly basis, while a separate Iowa DOC page says a transfer appears within 24 hours. Both are official and they conflict. Newton is five miles south of town off Interstate 80, so a phone call on 641-792-7552 is cheaper than the drive.
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All information on this page comes directly from official government and facility sources. How we verify information › Last verified September 9, 2026.