This past week the Iowa State Sheriff’s & Deputies Association held the annual winter banquet in Des Moines at the Airport Holiday Inn. The Winter school of instruction is a 3-day training seminar with many vendors and local law enforcement officials from all 99 counties. 2019 is the second year the “Best of the Best” jail award has been presented. To be considered for the award, several things are taken into consideration. They include but not limited to cleanliness, maintenance, management, major improvements, overall operations of the jail, staff professionalism. The jails in Iowa meet or exceed the minimum standards as set forth by Iowa Code and Iowa Administrative Code.

Pictured: Jail Administrator Kyle Lindberg, Chief Jail Inspector Delbert Longley, Sergeant Cody Eckles (Shelby County S/O Facebook photo)

It was noted several jails have gone above and beyond the minimum requirements to be in contention for the award. A total of six jails in three categories, small-medium-large,were recognized for outstanding achievements this past year. The 2019 winners include”

Small Jail: Chickasaw County & Shelby County
Medium Jail : Benton County & Buena Vista County
Large Jail: Linn County & Scott County

Kyle Lindberg, Shelby County Jail Administrator, said “It’s a great honor to win this award again in 2019, and to be able to say we have won it two years in a row shows just how dedicated we are to our facility. We are very fortunate to have the “best of the best” talented and motivated staff here in Shelby County.” Lindberg said “This is and can be a difficult job at times, and we have the right people in the right places. Maintaining a correctional facility is just not from the administrative standpoint, there are so many valuable moving parts from the front-line officers, to the administrative assistants, dispatch personnel and the Sergeants whom assist myself with calls. Our staff always works hard and performs with operational excellence every day in the dedication they give to our jail facility. The support from Sheriff Neil Gross, as well as the predecessors before {Lindberg] who have set the quality standards that we continue to grow on and deliver daily within our operation.”

Back Row: Officer Andrew Bierl, Officer Walker Wilson, Officer Cody Hansen
Front Row: Traning Officer Nancy Pigsley, Officer Mikayla Blum, Officer Jade Daeges

He said also, “I’m able to work closely with the board of supervisors, and other members of the community to provide and keep a facility with current and state-of-the-art technology equipment and maintaining the structure of our facility to surpass our yearly inspections. Our jail was built in 1984 at its current location and is 14 bed facility. We on average process 550-600 Inmates in a year and maintain 24-hour coverage from state certified staff.”