Clark Kauffman is deputy editor at Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this article first appeared. He worked for the Iowa Office of Ombudsman from October 2018 through November 2019. 

The Iowa Department of Corrections has refused to change its administrative rules to help ensure the state’s county jails aren’t illegally seizing inmates’ money, according to the state ombudsman’s office.

In its newly issued annual report, the Iowa Office of Ombudsman says that for several years, it has tracked procedures in Iowa jails that run contrary to Iowa law. Some of the practices are attributed to contradictions between Iowa law and state agencies’ administrative rules.

According to the ombudsman’s office, Iowa law requires county jails to provide the necessary care for inmates who have objectively serious medical and dental needs. County sheriffs are then allowed to recover those expenses from inmates, but only if the inmates are found guilty of a crime and only after a bill of costs is presented to a district court judge for approval.

In a March 2024 report, the ombudsman’s office highlighted a variety of scenarios in which inmates of four different county jails had their commissary accounts garnished in violation of state law.

In one incident, the Wapello County Jail deducted $130 from an inmate’s commissary account to pay for medical expenses although the man had yet to be convicted of a criminal charge. The ombudsman’s office informed the jail administrator of the state law requiring that there be a conviction before an inmate’s funds are seized and suggested the county issue a refund to the inmate.

According to the ombudsman’s office, the jail administrator argued that a refund would create “accounting discrepancies” and that, to be fair, the jail would have to issue refunds to other inmates, as well.

The ombudsman’s office states that since its report was published nine months ago, several Iowa jails have committed to changing their procedures for recovering the cost of jail inmates’ medical expenses. However, the ombudsman’s report says the Iowa Department of Corrections has refused to change its administrative rules pertaining to county jails and medical expenses so they are consistent with state law.

The ombudsman’s office says the “much needed” change would help eliminate any confusion caused by jail administrators who continue to look to the outdated rules, rather than the Code of Iowa, for guidance on how to legally recover the cost of medical expenses.

The apparent conflict between DOC’s rules and the state law was first noted by the ombudsman’s office seven years ago, in 2017. At that time, the DOC declined to consider a rule change until the ombudsman met with the Iowa State Association of Counties’ Jail Committee and obtained its backing. The committee concluded a change in rules wasn’t necessary, and so no action was taken.

In its March 2024 report, the ombudsman argued it was the DOC’s responsibility to ensure that its administrative rules were consistent with state law, and that it also was the DOC’s legal duty to consult with local government groups when considering rule changes. “That burden should not have been shifted to our office,” the ombudsman’s office reported.

In her March 2024 response to the ombudsman’s recommendation on a rule change, DOC Director Beth Skinner said the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association and the Iowa State Association of Counties – both of which are privately run, nonprofit entities – should be providing county jails with guidance on how to comply with state law.

The DOC employs a jail inspector tasked with making sure the state’s county jails comply with Iowa law. However, Skinner told the ombudsman’s office, the inspector is “not an accountant and/or financial auditor and is not able to provide ongoing financial guidance to each jail.”

In its new annual report, the Office of Ombudsman says it will continue to recommend that the DOC revise its rules to make them consistent with state law.

Appendix: Annual report of the Iowa Office of Ombudsman