10/21/2026
Why Does Our Jail Need to be Updated (Part 4)
What Would Housing Inmates Out of County Look Like? How Much Time Would Be Spent Outside the County?
The majority of the time, Sac County has two deputies on patrol during the night shift, although there are sometimes three. Each police department in Sac County also typically has one officer working an overnight shift.
Under Iowa law, the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the housing and safekeeping of inmates after they are arrested. Why does this matter? When any law enforcement agency in Sac County makes an arrest, the individual must be taken to jail. If the Sheriff’s Office transports an inmate to another county, a deputy is taken out of Sac County. If Sac City Police Department or Lake View Police Department makes an arrest, arrangements must be made to meet with a Sac County deputy, who then transports the arrestee to another county for housing. Again, this takes a deputy out of the county.
In some cases, multiple people are arrested during the same incident and cannot be transported together or in the same vehicle. This can take one or more deputies out of the county at the same time.
This leaves us with one important question: Who will respond to calls for service?
If one deputy needs assistance with a high-priority call while the other deputy is out of the county transporting an inmate, a local law enforcement agency may be called to assist. However, that creates another problem: if both officers are occupied with the first incident, who will respond to a high-priority call in that agency’s jurisdiction?
Sac County is also a small county where all three law enforcement agencies rely on officers being available on call. If an officer is already handling a call or is called in to assist with an inmate transport, who is left available to respond to other emergencies?
Why not just hire more deputies?
Additional deputies cost money and are more expensive than jail staff. Deputies require higher wages, benefits, squad cars, additional equipment, and more extensive training and certification. Hiring more deputies to cover inmate transports would increase costs while still requiring additional staffing to ensure adequate coverage for calls for service and emergencies within Sac County.
We would be devastated to learn that a tragedy could have been prevented if an officer had been available in the county to respond. When deputies are required to transport inmates outside the county, fewer local resources remain available to respond to emergencies.
Below is a list of estimated time spent outside the county transporting inmates. These estimates are based on Sac County Jail booking statistics from the last 3 years and include Sac County data only, not information from other counties.
These estimates account only for the time spent transporting an individual to another county. They do not include the time required to book an arrestee into the facility, obtain medical clearance, or complete additional transports for medical appointments, court appearances, and other required trips. They also do not account for deputy overtime or delays caused by weather conditions.
Please take this information into account this voting season. For additional information please contact the Sac County Sheriff's Office or attend one of our remaining scheduled jail tours.
Remaining Dates:
October 21, 2026 at 7:00PM
October 24, 2026 at 3:00PM
November 2nd 2026 at 7:00PM
