REQUESTING OPEN RECORDS
The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office is committed to promoting open and transparent government, by complying with the Iowa Open Records Act. Records that are defined as open under the law shall be released upon request. There are some records that are deemed confidential, therefore we cannot release them.
The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office has designated two staff members to be our Open Records Liaisons. They are:
Deputy Snook at phone number 319-291-2587 ext. 5135 or email: bsnook@BHCSO.org
Cindy Kirchoff at phone number 319-291-2587 ext. 5126 or email: CKirchoff@BHCSO.org
Please call or email one of these staff members to request the records you are seeking. You may also report in person to this office during regular business hours Monday thru Friday and request to speak with one of the two liaisons if you wish. They will inform you whether or not the record can be copied for you or viewed by you, and will give you a cost estimate. There may be time needed to prepare the record in question. If they need time to determine if your request qualifies for copying or viewing, the liaison will tell you and get back to you as soon as possible after researching and/or seeking legal advice. The reasonable costs of providing the open record(s) to you must be pre-paid if the record is being sent back to you, or paid for at the time you pick it up in person at our lobby.
For a general overview of fees associated with open records, go to “Fee Schedule” on this website.
If you choose to make your open records request through the US Mail, be as specific as possible as to the record you are seeking and provide a means for the liaison to contact you if they have questions. They will have to convey to you somehow whether or not your request can be fulfilled and how much it will cost. Use the following address:
Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office
Attention: Open Records Request
225 E 6th Street
Waterloo, IA 50703
ACCIDENT REPORTS
If the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office was the investigating agency for an auto accident, copies of the report are available upon request from our custodian of records, or online at www.policereports.us . The cost for each report is $10.00, payable by cash, certified check, or business/insurance checks; personal checks are not accepted. Payments online are made by credit card. The report will be the state accident report only.
CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECKS
We provide criminal background checks for Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office arrests only. It does not include juvenile records, traffic records (which may be obtained from the Iowa Department of Transportation), nor does it include arrest information from another agency. We suggest you check with other agencies for additional information. The criminal records check does not include disposition information on any of the charges, it simply states that the individual was arrested. We caution your use of this information without full court disclosure on the disposition of each charge. Contact the Black Hawk County Clerk of Courts at 319-833-3000 for disposition information. See fee schedule for cost.
If you are in need of a statewide criminal background check, you will need to contact the Department of Criminal Investigations in Des Moines at 515-725-6066.
INCIDENT REPORTS
Incident reports (anything other than accidents) are available by contacting our custodian of records at: 319-291-2587 ext. 5126 or ext. 5135 (See fee schedule).
JAIL CREDIT/TIME SERVED INFORMATION
Jail Credit is calculated ONLY at the time you are sent to prison. The prison will provide you with a jail credit request form which needs to be submitted to the Records Department. This request should include the following information:
- Name/Date of birth of Inmate
- Case Number (court docket #) of EACH case you are requesting credit for
- What the original charge was
- Date of original offense
This information is needed to insure you receive the correct amount of credit for your cases. After your request is researched and calculated, this information will be provided TO THE PRISON via e-mail. Separate copies will not be mailed to the inmate.
If you are to serve your time in the Black Hawk County Jail, the jail staff will research your case to see if any time was previously served. They will apply this to your sentence when you come to jail.
If you require verification of incarceration in the Black Hawk County Jail, we can provide this verification for $10.00.
MILITARY RECORDS CHECK
Requests made by the armed forces can be faxed directly to records at: 319-291-2521 or the local recruiter can bring them to our office.