Union County Jail Overview
Union County Jail is operated by the Union County Sheriff's Office. The jail sits in the Union County Law Enforcement Center in Creston, connected to the courthouse complex and shared with local law-enforcement functions. The official facility page names Brian Bolton as sheriff and Josh Christensen as jail administrator. The jail holds male and female prisoners and is the primary local custody point for sheriff, Creston police, Afton police, Iowa State Patrol, and other Union County arrests.
The official Union County Jail page publishes local jail rules, capacity, calls, mail limits, visitation prerequisites, and the sheriff contact block. It does not publish current inmate names, booking photos, charges, bond, or release dates. A person who has moved to prison, parole, probation, federal custody, or immigration custody must be searched through another system.
The official jail page screenshot shows the facility information source used for Union County Jail custody, mail, visitation, and contact details.
The image reflects the local jail information page, not an online Union County Jail inmate roster.
Union County Jail Capacity
Union County Jail is a small county jail. The official county page says it holds 11 inmates, with three single cells and two four-person cells. It also says the jail is generally full to capacity and may send inmates to other county jails for temporary housing. That is a key custody-search fact because a Union County case can remain local even when the person is physically housed outside the county for bed space.
| Facility Fact | Union County Jail Detail |
|---|---|
| Operator | Union County Sheriff's Office. |
| Facility type | County jail for local arrestees, pretrial detainees, and short county custody. |
| Capacity | 11 inmates. |
| Housing layout | Three single cells and two four-person cells. |
| Overflow | Generally full to capacity and may use temporary housing in other county jails. |
| Gender authority | Meets standards to house male and female prisoners. |
Look Up Union County Jail Inmates
No official Union County Jail online roster, current-inmates page, booking report, warrant roster, or mugshot gallery was located on the county sheriff pages. Do not wait for a web roster to update. Start with the jail or sheriff's office for current custody, then use court and state tools to answer the parts the jail page does not show.
- Call the Union County Sheriff's Office or jail at (641) 782-7717 for current custody confirmation.
- Ask whether the person is held in Union County Jail or temporarily housed in another county because of limited bed space.
- For records, use the civil clerk and records fallback at (641) 782-7322, fax (641) 782-8404, or appear at the sheriff's office during confirmed office hours.
- Use Iowa VINE for custody or case notifications when available.
- Search Iowa Courts Online for charges after the case opens, and use the Iowa DOC locator for sentenced, paroled, or probation-supervised persons.
The jail appointment route listed in sheriff materials is (641) 782-8402, then dial 2, during the appointment hours stated for fingerprinting. For ordinary custody confirmation, start with the sheriff or jail main line unless staff directs a different route.
Union County Jail Contact
The jail and sheriff share the Union County law-enforcement address in Creston. Official pages list slightly different public office-hour blocks, so confirm hours before going in person. Bring enough identifying detail to help staff find a booking, and do not assume that the jail can release all record types without review.
Union County Jail
302 N Pine St
Creston, IA 50801
(641) 782-7717
Jail/dispatch line: (641) 782-8402, dial 2 for jail appointments
Civil clerk and records fallback: (641) 782-7322
Fax: (641) 782-8404
Union County Jail Visitation
Union County Jail visits are scheduled by bunk number. The official jail page says each visitor must show photo ID and must be on a visitor list provided by the inmate. The county does not publish a full dress code, visitor-limit rule, video-visit option, child-visitor rule, or holiday policy in the located jail pages. Confirm the assigned bunk and visit rules before traveling.
The official Union County Jail visitation-hours page publishes 15-minute windows for each bunk on Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday.
The bunk-based schedule is one of the clearest public housing references for Union County Jail, but it is not a public list of inmates by bunk.
| Bunk | Saturday | Sunday | Wednesday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:30-9:45 am | 2:15-2:30 pm | 6:00-6:15 pm |
| 2 | 9:45-10:00 am | 2:00-2:15 pm | 6:15-6:30 pm |
| 3 | 10:00-10:15 am | 1:45-2:00 pm | 6:30-6:45 pm |
| 4 | 10:15-10:30 am | 1:30-1:45 pm | 6:45-7:00 pm |
| 5 | 10:30-10:45 am | 1:15-1:30 pm | 7:00-7:15 pm |
| 6 | 1:00-1:15 pm | 1:00-1:15 pm | 7:15-7:30 pm |
| 7 | 1:15-1:30 pm | 10:30-10:45 am | 7:30-7:45 pm |
| 8 | 1:30-1:45 pm | 10:15-10:30 am | 7:45-8:00 pm |
| 9 | 1:45-2:00 pm | 10:00-10:15 am | 8:00-8:15 pm |
| 10 | 2:00-2:15 pm | 9:45-10:00 am | 8:15-8:30 pm |
| 11 | 2:15-2:30 pm | 9:30-9:45 am | 8:30-8:45 pm |
Union County Jail Mail Calls
Union County Jail mail must be addressed to the inmate by name at the jail. The official jail page says packages, obscene or pornographic material, personal checks, stamped envelopes, food, and periodicals not sent directly from the publisher are not accepted. The page also says inmates cannot receive incoming phone calls, but outgoing calls are allowed daily.
| Service | Union County Jail Rule or Gap |
|---|---|
| Mail address | Inmate's Name, Union County Jail, 302 N. Pine St., Creston, IA 50801. |
| Packages | Not accepted. |
| Periodicals | Must be sent directly from the publisher. |
| Incoming calls | Not allowed. |
| Outgoing calls | Allowed daily. |
| Commissary or deposit vendor | No official vendor, kiosk, fee table, or online deposit URL was located. |
Note: Confirm custody and housing before sending mail, scheduling a visit, or trying to arrange any inmate funds.
Union County Jail Records
Union County Jail records and arrest reports are handled through the sheriff's office rather than a public online roster. The Union County Sheriff's Office reports page is the local source for the published report fees. Iowa Code chapter 22 is the open-records framework, and Iowa Code 22.7(9) distinguishes confidential criminal identification files from public records of current and prior arrests and criminal-history data. A request can still be reviewed for exemptions, including confidential investigative material, juvenile information, medical facts, or victim data.
| Record or Report | Published Union County Fee |
|---|---|
| Accident report to involved party | No charge. |
| Accident report to attorneys, insurance companies, or others | $5. |
| Other reports | $15 plus $25 per hour. |
For booking photos and charges, separate the jail record from the court record. The jail can answer local custody and booking-record questions. Iowa Courts Online and the Union County Clerk of Court answer formal charge, bond order, and case-event questions. The broader Union County jail inmate records route covers those channels together.
State Federal ICE Custody
Union County Jail is not the same as Iowa DOC custody. Once a Union County defendant is sentenced to prison, placed on parole, put on probation, or otherwise supervised by the Iowa Department of Corrections, the correct locator is the Iowa DOC Offender Search. DOC records can show name, age, sex, status, location except home street address, duration of supervision, offenses, and county of commitment.
No BOP federal prison, ICE detention center, state prison, regional jail, or separate work-release facility was located in Union County. Federal custody should be checked through the BOP inmate locator or the U.S. Marshals Service Southern District of Iowa. Immigration custody should be checked through ICE ODLS. Iowa VINE is a notification fallback for custody and case status, but it is not a Union County roster. The Union County Sheriff IA mobile app is documented as a public-safety, tips, and news app; no app-only jail roster, warrant search, or mugshot feature was verified in the store listings.
- County jail
- Local arrest, pretrial detention, short county sentence, or temporary local hold.
- DOC custody
- State prison, parole, probation, or district supervision after court action.
- Federal custody
- U.S. Marshals or BOP custody, searched outside county systems.
- ICE custody
- Immigration detention searched through ICE ODLS, not through a county jail roster.
Union County Jail History
The sheriff history materials place the current jail in a long local sequence. Early Union County jail space began in Afton, moved through a brick jail and courthouse basement period, and later included an 1896 brick jail with the sheriff's residence in front and jail space in back. The current county-city law-enforcement center opened in 1977 and is connected to the courthouse.
That courthouse connection has a practical effect. The history PDF says the law-enforcement center gives the jail direct access to courtrooms on the courthouse top floor. For a person moving from arrest to first appearance, the jail and court process are close in physical location, even though the jail record and the formal court record remain separate records kept by different offices.