MASON CITY — A Mason City woman convicted just weeks ago of child endangerment is back in custody after authorities say she is now facing fresh allegations in another Northern Iowa county that children were put at risk.
Mara Elizabeth Alvarado-Hartzell, 35, was booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail on June 25, 2026, at 3:22 p.m.
Jail records list Alvarado-Hartzell on a violation of probation, child endangerment involving substantial risk, assault-general and violation of pretrial release.
Bond information listed $2,000 cash-only in the defendant’s name and $3,000 cash/surety.
The latest arrest is tied to court trouble in two Northern Iowa counties.
In Howard County, Alvarado-Hartzell is facing case AGCR020560, which charges her with child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor, and assault-general, a simple misdemeanor. The alleged offense date is December 30, 2025.
No disposition has been entered in the Howard County case.
Howard County court records show a pretrial violation report was filed June 23 by DCS Northeast Iowa District 1. On June 25, Judge Laura Parrish ordered a public bench warrant to be issued.
Court records also show a motion was filed June 17 to drop the no-contact order in the Howard County case, but prosecutors resisted that request June 18. A hearing related to that issue is scheduled for July 27, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. Further proceedings in the criminal case are also scheduled for July 27 at 10:00 a.m.
The Mason City arrest also comes as Alvarado-Hartzell faces a probation-revocation matter in Cerro Gordo County.
In Cerro Gordo County case AGCR034329, court records show a probation violation report was filed June 23, followed by a probation revocation filing on June 24. Judge Karen K. Salic ordered a public bench warrant the same day, with bond set at $2,000 cash-only statewide.
The warrant was listed as served June 26 by the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff.
That Cerro Gordo case grew out of earlier accusations reported by NIT in September 2025.
In one prior story, NIT reported that Alvarado-Hartzell was accused of running over a bicycle as children clung to her vehicle.
Read NIT’s September 5, 2025 story here.
Days later, NIT reported that she was accused of endangering her children and faced fresh charges after another child was reportedly bitten by her dog.
Read NIT’s September 14, 2025 story here.
That earlier Cerro Gordo County case later produced convictions.
Court records show Alvarado-Hartzell pleaded guilty on May 12, 2026, to one count of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor, and one count of operating while under the influence first offense, a serious misdemeanor. That case cost her $2520.75 owed to Iowa courts.
Judge Salic sentenced Alvarado-Hartzell to two years in prison on the child-endangerment conviction, but suspended the prison term. She was placed on two years of probation, ordered to complete a mental health evaluation, fined $855 and ordered to submit DNA.
On the OWI conviction, Salic sentenced Alvarado-Hartzell to 365 days in jail, with 358 days suspended. She was placed on one year of probation, fined $1,250 and ordered to submit DNA.
A second child-endangerment count in the Cerro Gordo case was dismissed by the court on May 13, 2026.
A revocation hearing in the Cerro Gordo probation case is scheduled for August 31, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.
The latest arrest means Alvarado-Hartzell is now facing a pending Howard County child-endangerment and assault case, a Howard County pretrial-release violation matter and a Cerro Gordo County probation-revocation case tied to her May guilty pleas. She will likely be shipped to Cresco to deal with these allegations.
A criminal charge is merely an accusation. Alvarado-Hartzell is presumed innocent on pending charges unless and until proven guilty in court.