MASON CITY – This defiant Mason City mother has been smirking and blowing off local education officials who have begged her to put her 5 kids in school, meanwhile, her dog is some kind of menace, she was caught stealing at Walmart, and her freedom hangs in the balance due to a shaky probation status.
Brittany Danielle Smith (pictured at top), age 36 of Mason City, was booked into the Cerro Gordo county jail on July 31, 2025, at 11:07 AM, on truancy charges. According to Mason City police, the Mason City School District began seeking to contact Smith in the fall of 2024 when her children were not showing up to school. Mason City police told NIT, in reference to truancy cases, “Truancy cases are a little complex, and take a while to develop. Truancy cases usually develop when a child fails to attend school on a reliable, steady basis over a lengthy time period. The school tries to contact the parent(s) to see if anything can be done to reduce the absenteeism, get the child caught up, possibly even arrange for transportation. If the school is not seeing rapid improvement in attendance, or little or no cooperation from parent(s), the matter is then referred to law enforcement.
“We deal with a handful of truancy violations,” our source continued. “We would much rather prefer the parent(s) and schools work things out w/o getting LE involved. Sometimes, things still don’t get better and then we have to get involved.”
A new truancy law in Iowa went into effect on July 1, 2024.
Mason City police received truancy referrals for 5 of Smith’s children around January 27, 2025. The referral packets had the records of absenteeism for the kids during the fall of 2024 and records of the schools’ attempts to mitigate the absenteeism with Smith. An MCPD officer then tried to contact Smith and have her come sign 5 citations for truancy only after there was no improvement with school staff. This criminal charge process started in mid-February of 2025. Smith did not respond to the police officer so an arrest warrant was applied for, leading to her eventual arrest on the truancy charges.
While Smith was ignoring school officials and police on the truancy matter, she was apparently busy being difficult in the community, illegally driving and getting arrested three times by Mason City police.
On April 21, 2025, Smith was arrested on warrants for failure to appear on multiple truancy violations and a warrant for failure to appear in court on a citation from MCPD for not vaccinating her dog. Apparently, she was released on her own recognizance for the multiple truancy violations and given a new court date in May.
On June 9, 2025, Smith was arrested for shoplifting at Walmart. The MCPD officer cited her for fifth-degree theft and released her.
On July 31, 2025, Smith was arrested in the Cerro Gordo courthouse because she had at least two valid warrants, police told NIT.
Smith is free at this time as she awaits a trial set for August 19, 2025, on the truancy charges and theft charges.
Smith is being defended by Mason City attorney Richard Tompkins, who is famous for entering women’s homes years ago and stealing women’s “undergarments with which to sexually gratify himself” and getting a slap on the wrist for it from our local justice system.
Smith also owes Iowa courts $615.63 for getting busted by MCPD in March of 2024 for driving with no insurance. Later that year, in June, Smith was nabbed by MCPD for driving while barred and that cost her a bill to Iowa courts of $399.00, which she has paid exactly $0 towards. Then, in September of 2024, she was again nabbed by MCPD for driving on a suspended license. She was put on probation in December of 2024 for a year as a 60-day jail term was suspended, but her freedom very well may be in jeopardy as she faces these new charges and her probation status hangs in the balance. Records show Smith’s driver’s license is suspended and still owes Iowa courts $100.00 in that case, as well.
Smith was also found guilty in April on the ticket from Mason City police for no rabies vaccination, and that cost her $251.25 to Iowa courts, but again, she has paid exactly $0 toward that balance.
3 thoughts on “Mason City mother faces trial for truancy on five children and stealing from Walmart”
Sounds like somebody needs to intervene and get those children somewhere safe.
I agree and she needs to pay her fines.
She needs to go to jail. Maybe that would stop here from putting us all in danger and risking unpaid medical bills when she has an accident that sends someone to the hospital. As far as I know the hospital will still send me bills even if she didn’t have insurance as required by law. How much in welfare benefits has she received? When she keeps those kids out of school do we think she is teaching them how to be responsible citizens? Shoot the dog. Take the kids because as sad as it might be, they will have a better chance in life far away from her. Lock her up and throw away the key until she has a plan on how she will be able to support her kids, pay back the welfare she has received. Stop stealing and driving. If she can’t get it together, let her out and be homeless. Set an example for the generations to come how not to live. Let people know you can not drive unless you do not break the law because if you do, the consequences will be harsh. Nobody gets a suspended sentence. Immediate jail for a few years. No matter what or who. Take away judges ability to sentence people who break these laws. They have failed to enforce the law effectively. There is not much reason for low life people to care if they break these laws law. Fines, they won’t pay. Why should they care? Should put a big purple symbol on law breakers foreheads so stores can stop them from coming in and people can see them everywhere they go. Something needs to be done. What is in place now isn’t working. I think long periods of jail might scare a few. Work their asses off and make them pay their way through jail.