Search ICIW Prison Records

ICIW State Prison Overview

The Iowa Correctional Institution for Women, often shortened to ICIW, is operated by the Iowa Department of Corrections. The official DOC facility page lists it at 420 Mill St. SW, Mitchellville, IA 50169, in Polk County. DOC identifies the facility as medium security and names Michelle Waddle as warden. ICIW holds sentenced women in Iowa prison custody and also serves as the reception and intake center for women sentenced to Iowa prison.

This is not a county jail. It does not use the Polk County current-inmate list, Polk booking lists, or Polk released-inmate search as its primary lookup. A woman may begin in Polk County Jail after arrest, appear in a county booking record, and later move to DOC custody after sentencing. Once that transfer occurs, the state offender search is the correct lookup channel. That separation matters for visits, mail, deposits, phone calls, and release information.

The ICIW FY2024 annual report gives useful facility history. The site was originally built in 1954 as a training school for girls. The training school closed in 1981, and the facility transitioned to incarcerated women in 1982. A major renovation and expansion approved by the 2008 General Assembly led to an updated facility opening in the winter of 2013 and 2014.

The DOC facility page is the best visual match for this prison. The screenshot below comes from the official ICIW facility page and should be read with the DOC offender locator rather than the county jail roster.

DOC pages can change schedules and program details, so the facility location and visiting rules should be verified before travel.

ICIW Population and Intake

The ICIW FY2024 annual report listed an average daily population of 675.34. It also reported about 530 intakes and about 490 releases during FY2024. Those figures are state prison figures, not Polk County Jail dashboard numbers. The same report listed an operating budget of $25,679,261, an annual cost per person of $38,156.91, and a daily cost of $104.25.

DOC describes ICIW buildings that include administration, secure visiting with outdoor space, medical and mental health areas, assisted living, special-needs units, orientation and intake housing, general population housing, dietary and food service, a programs building with gym, classrooms, library, music, craft areas, and warehouse and maintenance functions. Two general population housing units hold approximately 500 individuals, while reception, special needs, and other units serve distinct prison functions.

Look Up ICIW Inmates

Use Iowa DOC Offender Search for someone believed to be at Iowa Correctional Institution for Women. DOC says offender records are public under Iowa Code 904.601(1), updated weekly, and subject to change. The locator can search by first, middle, and last name, offender number, sex, location, offense, county of commitment, and name-search mode such as Starts With, Matches, or Sounds Like. Location options include Iowa Correctional Institution for Women and Fifth District.

1. Open Iowa DOC Offender Search and enter the last name or offender number if known.
2. Use sex, location, offense, or county of commitment filters only when they improve confidence in the match.
3. Confirm that the listed location is Iowa Correctional Institution for Women before using ICIW visit, mail, or phone rules.
4. If the person was just arrested in Polk County, check the county jail roster first because sentencing and DOC intake may not have occurred.
5. If the person is missing from the DOC locator, contact DOC or the facility because weekly updates may lag quick transfers.

The Iowa DOC offender search is also relevant for women sentenced from Polk County who are no longer held at the county jail. The county jail roster is still useful for the earlier arrest and booking stage, but the prison record controls once DOC custody begins.

The statewide search form is shown in the official Iowa DOC Offender Search screenshot below.

Use that DOC locator for ICIW and other Iowa prison records, not the Polk County booking lists.

ICIW Address and Contact

Contact ICIW directly for facility-specific questions and use DOC family services for statewide communication rules. The facility phone is appropriate for general routing, but individual custody, sentence, classification, or release questions may require DOC records, the offender's counselor, court records, or authorized family-service channels.

ICIW Visiting Schedule

ICIW visiting is a prison visiting process. DOC materials say in-person visits are Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Reservations are made through the Ameelio app only. Visits are limited to five visitors per visit, and the facility has 20 visiting stations per two-hour slot. Video visiting is Monday and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with five general population video stations and two MLO stations per one-hour slot.

Prison visits normally require advance approval and scheduling. The person should be confirmed at ICIW before a visitor relies on this schedule. Intake status, discipline, medical status, lockdown, transfer, or DOC policy changes can alter visit availability.

ICIW Mail and Money

DOC mail and money rules differ from Polk County Jail rules. Iowa DOC says non-legal mail goes to central processing, not directly to the prison. The format is incarcerated individual name and offender ID number, facility name and facility ID number, PO Box 96777, Las Vegas, NV 89193. Non-legal mail sent directly to an IDOC facility is returned. Legal mail follows separate DOC rules and should be checked through current DOC family services before sending.

Do not send Polk County Jail commissary funds to someone who has moved to ICIW. The vendor, account, address, and rules are different. Confirm the offender number and location in the DOC search before using any money or mail channel.

ICIW Reception and Intake

ICIW performs reception and intake for women sentenced to Iowa prison. That process is not the same as street-arrest booking at Polk County Jail. After conviction and sentencing, the person moves from county custody into DOC custody. Reception and classification then assess placement, housing, medical and mental health needs, security level, program needs, and records used by DOC during the prison sentence.

A Polk County arrest can therefore create two different record trails. The jail record covers arrest, booking, local custody, bail, and charges at the county stage. The DOC record covers prison custody, offender number, sentence-related status, prison location, and later transfers or releases. For court outcomes after the arrest, use Iowa Courts Online or the Polk County Clerk of Court rather than the jail roster or ICIW phone line.

About ICIW

ICIW's updated campus includes secure visiting space, medical and mental health areas, special-needs and assisted-living units, orientation housing, general population, dietary services, program space, a gym, classrooms, library, music and craft areas, and support buildings. Those features reflect a state prison and reception center, not a local jail. A person may remain there or transfer elsewhere in the Iowa prison system depending on classification and DOC decisions.

Because ICIW sits in Polk County, it can be confused with Polk County Jail. The distinction is simple: the jail is run by the Sheriff and covers local adult custody after arrest, while ICIW is run by DOC and covers sentenced state prison custody for women. Missing the distinction leads to failed searches, wrong money deposits, wrong mail addresses, and wasted visitation trips. The Polk County Jail facility page is the better route for adult local custody before sentencing.