MASON CITY — A Mason City woman caught driving drunk in two separate cases has landed back in jail, while her repeated trips through the criminal justice system have generated more than $5,400 in fines, surcharges, restitution and court costs.
Erin Gwendolyn Murphy, 33, was booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail at 7:37 a.m. Monday, July 13, 2026, on a conviction for second-offense operating while intoxicated.
The latest jail stay followed Murphy’s guilty plea in a case brought by the Mason City Police Department after she was arrested March 4, 2026.
Prosecutors charged Murphy with operating while under the influence, second offense, an aggravated misdemeanor. She initially entered a not-guilty plea before changing course and submitting a negotiated voluntary guilty plea.
District Associate Judge Adam Sauer entered judgment and sentenced Murphy on June 23.
The financial hit from the latest drunk-driving conviction totaled $2,256.25, including:
$1,875 fine;
$281.25 surcharge; and
$100 in court costs.
Court records show Murphy had paid only $60, leaving a balance of $2,196.25. A court-ordered payment plan was established the same day she was sentenced.
It was not Murphy’s first expensive encounter with Mason City police over alleged drunken driving.
She was arrested by the department on May 3, 2021, and prosecuted in another Cerro Gordo County case. That charge was also listed as second-offense operating while intoxicated, an aggravated misdemeanor.
Murphy initially pleaded not guilty in that case before filing a written guilty plea in July 2021.
Her earlier conviction resulted in $3,156.25 in financial obligations, including a $1,875 fine, a $281.25 surcharge and $1,000 in restitution. Those amounts were eventually paid in full.
The 2021 court record also shows that Murphy completed an inpatient treatment program through Prairie Ridge. Documentation of that treatment was accepted by the court as part of the disposition of the case.
Despite the treatment, conviction and thousands of dollars she had already paid, Murphy was back before the court on another OWI charge less than five years later.
Between the two cases, Murphy was assessed a combined $5,412.50:
$3,750 in fines;
$562.50 in surcharges;
$1,000 in restitution; and
$100 in court costs.
She has paid $3,216.25 of that total, with $2,196.25 still owed in the latest case.
The July jail booking adds another consequence to a pair of drunk-driving cases that have now cost Murphy her freedom, required treatment and left her facing thousands of dollars in financial penalties.