CLEAR LAKE — A registered North Iowa sex offender with a prior child-sex conviction and a recent sex-offender violation conviction is in deep legal trouble again after Clear Lake police say he was not living where he was supposed to be registered.
Tony Marvin Halsrud, 58, was booked into the Cerro Gordo County jail at 9:41 PM on June 19, 2026, after Clear Lake police brought a new felony case alleging he violated Iowa’s sex offender registration requirements for a second time.
Authorities say Halsrud was supposed to be living in Klemme, but he was allegedly found living in Clear Lake instead, a serious accusation for a registered sex offender whose whereabouts are required to be kept current with law enforcement.
Halsrud was charged with two counts of sex offender registration requirement violation, second offense. Jail records listed one count with a $5,000 cash-only bond and another with a $5,000 cash or surety bond.
The case is filed in Cerro Gordo County as FECR034993. Court records show the criminal complaint was filed by the Clear Lake Police Department on June 16 and entered in court records June 17. A statewide arrest warrant was issued the same day, with bond set at $5,000 cash only. The warrant was served June 19 by the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office.
Halsrud made an initial appearance and was held for bond. Court records show a preliminary hearing had been set for June 30, and an arraignment is scheduled for 3:00 PM on July 20, 2026. A public defender was appointed June 30, and attorney Barbara Jo Westphal filed an appearance July 1.
The new charges come after Halsrud was convicted less than a year earlier in Hancock County of another sex-offender-related offense. Court records show Halsrud pleaded guilty on December 18, 2024, in case AGCR013867 to sex offender area/activity violation, first offense, an aggravated misdemeanor. That case was filed by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department after an offense date of July 25, 2024.
Court records in the Hancock County case show a jail incarceration certificate was later filed showing four days served. A payment plan notice for past-due court fines and costs was entered in March 2025, and the case was later sent to the Iowa Department of Revenue Central Collections Unit.
According to Iowa Sex Offender Registry information provided for background, Halsrud’s registration requirement stems from a May 21, 2001, Humboldt County conviction for second-degree sexual abuse. The registry information lists Halsrud as 18 years old at the time of the offense and identifies the victim as a male child age 0 to 13. No weapon was listed.
Iowa’s sex offender registry system is designed to let law enforcement and the public know where registered offenders live, work and attend school. When a registered offender allegedly claims one address but lives somewhere else, police and prosecutors can treat that as a major public-safety violation.
The latest Cerro Gordo County case remains pending.
Halsrud is presumed innocent on the new felony charges unless and until proven guilty in court.