Black Hawk County jail makes inmates sign $70-a-day fee confessions to leave, suit says
Black Hawk County charges jail inmates $70 per day plus a $25 booking fee. The lawsuit says that instead of using Iowa's court-reviewed civil reimbursement process, the Sheriff's Office has a written policy requiring inmates to sign a confession of judgment for the fees at release, after jail officials take any cash or commissary money they hold. Former inmates Leticia Roberts and Calvin Sayers, represented by the ACLU of Iowa and Public Justice, sued in 2024; the ACLU says the fee money paid for staff perks such as a shooting range, cotton candy and laser tag. A federal judge dismissed the case in November 2024, but on May 20, 2026 the Eighth Circuit vacated that ruling and sent the case back, finding the policy plausibly violates due process. Sheriff Nathan Neff declined to comment, citing pending litigation. The case is ongoing.
The appeals court found that the county's policy plausibly violates constitutional protections.
They can't trace the conduct to the alleged constitutional harm and that's what the district court found.
Instead of using the civil reimbursement process, the County has instituted a written policy compelling inmates to sign a confession of judgment at the time of their release.
Sheriff Nathan Neff said he could not comment due to pending litigation.
No outcome recorded yet.