Iowa Public Records & Presumption of Innocence
Presumption of Innocence: Every individual named, arrested, cited, or booked on criminal charges is legally presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Real Dubuque News (RDN) publishes government and public safety reports in the public interest pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 22 (Iowa Open Records Law) and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
1. Scope & Editorial Mission
Real Dubuque News is an independent digital news and civic intelligence organization serving Dubuque, Iowa, and the Tri-States region. Our news desk gathers and publishes public safety data, dispatch records, municipal agendas, health inspection reports, and arrest logs directly from state, county, and local public agencies.
This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Real Dubuque News collects, uses, maintains, and discloses information collected from users (referred to as “you” or “visitors”) of the website https://realdubuque.news and all associated services.
2. Presumption of Innocence & Accuracy of Law Enforcement Information
Arrest logs, booking photos (mugshots), initial court appearances, and incident reports reflect official data as entered and maintained by arresting law enforcement agencies (such as the Dubuque Police Department, Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office, and Iowa State Patrol) and the Iowa Judicial Branch at the time of booking.
An arrest or charge is an allegation, not a conviction. A booking photo does not imply guilt. The outcome of any criminal case depends upon subsequent judicial proceedings, which may result in charges being dismissed, reduced, deferred, or the subject being acquitted.
3. Court-Ordered Expungements, Dismissals, and Record Updates
Real Dubuque News respects the legal rights of individuals whose cases have been resolved favorably under Iowa law, including Iowa Code § 901C (Expungement of Dismissed Charges or Acquittals).
If your charges were formally dismissed with prejudice, if you were acquitted by a jury or judge, or if the court entered an official expungement order, you may request that your booking record or associated article be updated or removed.
How to Submit an Expungement or Correction Request:
- Send an email to [email protected] with the subject line:
[Record Update Request] - Full Legal Name. - Attach certified documentation from the Iowa District Court or Iowa Courts Online (e.g., official Order of Dismissal, Order of Expungement, or Judgment of Acquittal).
- Provide the specific Real Dubuque News article URL or date of booking.
Our editorial desk verifies court records within five (5) business days and will promptly update or redact the story in accordance with official judicial records.
4. Information We Collect Automatically
When you access Real Dubuque News, our servers and analytics system automatically record standard, privacy-preserving browsing signals:
- Device & Browser Data: Browser type, operating system, screen resolution, language settings, and referrer URL.
- IP Address: Logged temporarily for security, rate-limiting, and DDOS mitigation. Raw IP addresses are scrubbed and anonymized in analytics aggregates.
- Informer Telemetry: We use Informer, our self-hosted, first-party analytics system. Informer does not track you across third-party websites and does not sell, rent, or trade your browsing history to data brokers.
5. Google AdSense & Advertising Cookies
We partner with Google AdSense to serve advertisements on Real Dubuque News to support independent journalism.
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this website or other websites on the Internet.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to users based on their visit to Real Dubuque News and/or other sites on the Internet.
- Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
- Alternatively, you can opt out of third-party vendor use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting aboutads.info.
6. Web Push Notifications
Real Dubuque News provides optional real-time Web Push notifications for breaking public safety alerts, arrest updates, food safety inspections, and civic agendas.
- Zero Personal Identifiable Information (PII): Subscribing to push notifications does not require your name, phone number, email address, or street address.
- Anonymous Cryptographic Tokens: When you allow notifications, your browser generates a unique, anonymous cryptographic subscription token (VAPID endpoint and public keys) stored securely on our server.
- Category Control: You can select which specific categories you receive (e.g., Breaking Crime, City Hall, Food Inspections) or modify them at any time using the Notification Bell in the website navigation.
- One-Click Opt-Out: You can revoke permission and unsubscribe instantly at any time either through the on-site Notification Settings modal or via your browser’s native site permission settings.
7. Progressive Web App (PWA) & Local Storage
Real Dubuque News uses browser localStorage solely to save your local UI preferences (such as Dark/Day/Civic-Blue theme selection and your chosen push alert category filters) and cache manifest assets for fast mobile loading. No tracking identifiers are placed in local storage for third-party commercial marketing.
8. Children’s Privacy (COPPA Compliance)
Real Dubuque News does not knowingly collect or solicit any personal information from children under the age of 13. If you believe that a child under 13 has provided personal data to our services, please notify us immediately at [email protected], and we will delete the information.
9. Contact the Newsroom
If you have questions, comments, or legal inquiries regarding this Privacy Policy or our public records reporting, please contact us:
Email: [email protected]
News Tips: [email protected]
Dubuque, Iowa • Tri-States Public Records Bureau