Our Services

The District provides the following services to our offenders:

Probation

Probation supervision is supervised release in the community for adjudicated offenders utilizing existing local resources for problem specific rehabilitative purposes. Supervision emphasizes employment stability, victim restitution, community service sentencing, use of community resources, one-on-one counseling, and surveillance of the offender in the community.

Parole Supervision

Parole supervision is provided for those offenders granted a parole by the Iowa Board of Parole either directly out of a state institution or paroled from Work Release. Monitoring and treatment is provided in the community, with utilization of locally available resources.

Pre-Trial Services

The Department established Pre-Trial Services in 1974. Pre-Trial Services is an alternate to the bail bond system. The Department offers interviews to arrestees that elicit social and criminal history in order to determine the arrestee’s ties to the community. A recommendation for release is made to the court after an assessment is made of the arrestee’s likelihood to appear for further court appearances and refrain from further law violations. In 1985 the Department established a Pre-Trial Intensive Program. Each of these programs supervise arrestees until the disposition of their cases.

Residential/Work Release Facilities

Residential facilities offer the court an alternative between street supervision and incarceration by providing a structured residential environment for both male and female offenders. Facilities may also be designated as alternate jails thereby allowing certain jail inmates to serve their sentences at the facilities or reside prior to adjudication. Contracts are also in effect to house offenders from the federal correctional system. Work Release refers to post institutional “live-in” supervision of offenders who are on inmate work release status, providing a structured reintegration to the community prior to parole or discharge. The duration of the program averages approximately four months with a one-year legal limit.

Interstate Compact

The Interstate Compact is an agreement between member states, which allows for supervision of parole and probation cases to be transferred to other states. Cases coming to Iowa are transferred via the Iowa Interstate Compact Administrators Office. This District uses the compact to transfer district cases to other states as well as to receive supervision of cases originating in other states. Standards for supervision of compact cases are the same as Iowa cases.

Operating While Intoxicated (OWI)

The First Judicial District provides services to offenders sentenced under the provisions of the Code of Iowa, Section 321J and 905.513. The district is required to contract for substance abuse counseling with a licensed substance abuse agency. O.W.I. programming is offered at all residential facilities.

Sex Offender Program

The Sex Offender Treatment Program consists of three components: assessment, group therapy, and individual counseling. A Department Psychologist conducts the assessments and groups are facilitated by Department staff that are trained and certified. Polygraphs are used to verify offender reported information. In addition to district-wide field services programs, sex offender programs are provided in the Waterloo Work Release, West Union Residential, and Dubuque Residential Facilities.

Drug Courts

Drug Court is a court that has been specifically designed and staffed to supervise nonviolent felony drug addicted offenders who have been referred to this comprehensive and judicially monitored program of drug treatment services.

Iowa Domestic Abuse Program (IDAP)

Given the lethal nature of domestic violence as well as its tendency to affect all within its range, the community has a vested interest in the methods used to stop and prevent future violence. Interventions for domestic violence must be based on a complete understanding of the most effective strategies for this specific problem and should be implemented by those well educated and skilled in those methodologies. Group education programming is recognized as only one of the contributions to effective intervention with those who abuse. Other effective intervention strategies include safety planning for the victims, prompt response by law enforcement, rigorous prosecution, appropriate adjudication, close monitoring by probation, and sentences which reflect the seriousness of this crime against the community. Since education is one approach being used for a problem that has such serious consequences to others, the providers of IDAPs should meet the highest standards. These standards are necessary to recognize that domestic violence is a serious, potentially lethal problem and that programming for these violent individuals requires more than just a general knowledge of the treatment of behavioral or interpersonal problems. Education programs must never be used as an alternative to legal sanctions, but always as an adjunct to those sanctions. Research suggests a combination of legal sanctions and education programs is a more effective means of reducing abusive behavior than either one alone.

Our Mission
Creating Opportunities for Safer Communities

Our Vision


Our Values and Beliefs

	People can change
	Our staff are agents of change
	We believe in continuous quality improvement
	We believe in applying data-driven decisions
	We believe in maximizing resources

We are accredited . . click

Annual Reports by Fiscal Year

2021 - - 2020
2017 - - 2018 - - 2019
2016 - - 2015 - - 2014
2013 - - 2012 - - 2011
2010 - - 2009 - - 2008
2007 - - 2006 - - 2005