Linn County Court Records Lookup

The following is for information purposes only

Linn County, founded in 1873, spans a total area of 717.0 square miles by land mass. Its county seat, Cedar Rapids, is Iowa's second-largest city. Included in the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area, Linn County was named after Senator Lewis F. Linn of Missouri. The county has a population of about 229,308 people. Linn County is served by District Courts with broad jurisdiction over all kinds of legal proceedings, including civil and criminal cases.

Linn County District Court, located at May's Island, has specific Divisions based on case type. They include Divisions for Juvenile Court, Probate Court, and Small Claims. The Juvenile Court Division exercises general jurisdiction over most juvenile delinquency cases, adoption, neglect, abuse, and termination of parental rights and responsibilities. Concurrently, the Probate Court Division has jurisdiction over the guardianship, conservatorships, will construction, trusts, administration of decedent's estates, and other probate matters. On the other hand, the Small Claims Division handles landlord-tenant disputes and general civil claims.

Linn County District Court also has a Criminal and Traffic Division as well as a Civil Division. The criminal jurisdiction extends to all felonies punishable by incarceration, all misdemeanors, and violations of city ordinances. The Traffic Division hears traffic-related citations such as parking violations and non-felony traffic cases. The Civil Division of the District Court handles civil damages involving monetary claims and property recovery.

Linn County has a violent crime rate of approximately 12.8 and a property crime rate of 23.2 per 1,000 residents. Likewise, the District Court files an average of 677,166 cases annually. Anyone can visit the Office of the Court's Clerks to view public court records or use the statewide online electronic docket record search portal. Also, court case documents may be viewed at the public terminal of the courthouse. However, juvenile court probation files, personal identifying information, adoption and custodial matters, as well as mental health and medical records, and other confidential court records are not open to the public. To gain access to these types of records, special permission or a court order is required. 

In summary, Linn County's court system is structured in such a fashion to administer justice in a fair, unbiased, and timely manner following the rule of law. It renders efficient and respectful services with integrity, competence, effective case management techniques, and a commitment to excellence. It also enforces the implementation of judgments and grants interested public members access to records of its cases.