Search Des Moines Jail Mugshots
Des Moines jail mugshots come from two main places. The SCORE Jail in Des Moines holds most inmates booked by Des Moines Police for misdemeanor arrests. King County Jail and the Maleng Regional Justice Center hold the rest. This page walks you through how to search Des Moines inmate booking photos, how to pull a police report from the Des Moines Police Department, and which online roster to use. You can look up an arrest by name, file a public records request for the full report, or grab the case number and match it to the jail booking record.
Des Moines Quick Facts
Des Moines Jail Mugshots at SCORE
Des Moines is a member city of the South Correctional Entity, better known as SCORE Jail. The facility sits right in Des Moines and serves south King County cities. When Des Moines Police make a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor arrest, the person is most often booked into SCORE. The SCORE Jail website has an inmate lookup tool you can use free. Type in a last name and the roster returns current inmates, charges, bail, and a booking photo.
The Des Moines Police page above is where you find the front desk contact for records and the patrol info. Call 206-870-6631 for questions about an arrest.
SCORE is a regional jail that handles booking, housing, and release for several member cities. The main phone is 206-870-5700. The roster updates all day long as people come in and leave. For closed cases, the booking photo and the jail record move off the live roster. You then need to ask SCORE for a copy through the records unit, or go back to Des Moines PD for the arrest file.
SCORE does not take felony arrests past the first stage. Once a felony charge is filed, the person is moved to the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle or to the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. The booking photo stays in the SCORE file and a new mugshot may be taken at the King County intake.
Des Moines Police Records
The Des Moines Police Department runs patrol, detective, and marine units from 2125 S 228th Street. The records division handles all arrest report requests. Use the department records desk when the roster no longer shows the inmate or when you need the full narrative of what happened.
For wider city records, the Des Moines City Clerk records page runs the Public Records Request process. You submit a request on the city PRR portal. Under RCW Chapter 42.56, the city has five business days to give you the records, a link, a cost estimate, or ask for more detail.
The Des Moines City Council has said that making one big index of all city records would be too much work. So you ask for a specific record by type. For Des Moines jail mugshots, ask for the arrest report and any booking photo tied to the incident number. Copies are charged at the standard state rate.
Note: Police records for Des Moines are also held by the King County Sheriff Office since the city contracts for some services, so a request may route through KCSO Public Disclosure.
King County Jail Inmate Lookup
Felony arrests from Des Moines Police usually end up at a King County facility. Use the King County Jail inmate lookup to search these records. The tool is free, needs no sign-up, and updates several times a day. Search by name to pull booking details, charges, bail, and release info.
Des Moines arrestees in King County custody may be housed at the King County Correctional Facility in downtown Seattle or at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. The MRJC takes most of the south King County bookings. If the SCORE roster does not show your person, check King County next.
Once a Des Moines arrest turns into a court case, you can pull the case record through the Washington Courts case search. Matching the court case number with the jail booking number gives you the full record chain. The state Criminal Records Privacy Act at RCW Chapter 10.97 sets how these records stay on file.
Tips for Des Moines Inmate Searches
Search tips can save time when you look for Des Moines jail mugshots. Try these steps before you give up:
- Search SCORE first for recent Des Moines arrests
- Try the King County roster for felony bookings
- Check name spellings and last name first
- Pull the case number from the state court search
- File a records request with Des Moines PD for closed cases
The state jail register law at RCW 70.48.100 says that jail registers are open to the public. That means the daily list of bookings is a public record. The booking photo, the name, the charges, and the time of arrest all fall under this rule. Some files are held back, like juvenile records, but most adult jail mugshots stay open.
Des Moines is a waterfront city on Puget Sound in south King County. The Des Moines Police marine unit handles calls on the water along with patrol on land. Arrests from marine calls also go through SCORE.
What Is Not in a Des Moines Arrest File
Not every part of a Des Moines arrest file is open. Under state law, some items are held back. Open probe notes, confidential sources, and juvenile data stay sealed. Body camera video may be cut up before release to protect third parties under the exemption at RCW 42.56.240.
The booking photo, name, charges, bail, and basic narrative are almost always public. If a Des Moines Police arrest led to a charge, you can see the court file online and match it to the jail booking. If charges were dropped, the arrest record still exists and you can still ask for it, though the case file may close out fast.
King County Jail Mugshots
Des Moines is in King County. For a full look at the county jail system, the Maleng Regional Justice Center, and the main King County booking rules, visit the county page below.
Nearby Cities
These cities sit near Des Moines and each one uses its own jail booking site for inmate records.