Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Bettendorf, Iowa, in Scott County, has about 40,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Iowa District Court for Scott County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Bettendorf public records, Scott County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Bettendorf
The FBI lists Bettendorf with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Bettendorf Police Department. It reported 1,031 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Scott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,033 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Bettendorf Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Bettendorf: 1,031 for 2025, 1,102 for 2024, 1,150 for 2023, 947 for 2022, 991 for 2021 and 710 for 2020.
Bettendorf's 1,031 arrests in 2025 were down 6.4 percent from 1,102 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Bettendorf reported 752 arrests, against 665 in the same months of 2025.
Across Scott County, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,003 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bettendorf Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bettendorf is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 320 people, down from about 320 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 380 beds, and it ran at 83 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountyiowa.gov/sheriff/inmates (page title: Inmate Listing | Scott County Iowa), phone 563-326-8625, 400 W. 4th St. Davenport, IA 52801-1104, Monday to Friday: 8:00am - 4:30pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Iowa Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.iowa.gov/inmate-family-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bettendorf
Whether someone was arrested in Bettendorf, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Iowa District Court for Scott County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountyiowa.gov/courts/clerk-court, phone 563-326-8647); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at scottcountyiowa.gov/attorney/general-information, phone 563-326-8600).
Statewide, Iowa Courts Online is the Iowa Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
Iowa is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can request a name-based criminal history check online, through the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Bettendorf
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Iowa Open Records Law (Chapter 22) the agency must answer without delay; the law sets no fixed number of days, and a delay past 20 days must be justified, and it may charge the actual cost of copying and retrieval.
- An arrest by the Bettendorf police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at hhs.iowa.gov/locations/bettendorf-police-department (page title: Bettendorf Police Department | Health & Human Services), phone 563-344-4042, 1609 State St. Bettendorf, IA 52722, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Scott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 563-326-8625.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 563-326-8600, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Scott County, through the court records page at scottcountyiowa.gov/courts/clerk-court, phone 563-326-8647.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountyiowa.gov/secc/open-records-request (page title: SECC Open Records Request | Scott County Iowa).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Scott County guide covers every agency in the county: Scott County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bettendorf each year?
Bettendorf reported 1,031 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bettendorf?
Look on the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountyiowa.gov/sheriff/inmates, or call 563-326-8625. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Bettendorf booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bettendorf?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation: anyone can request a name-based criminal history check online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Iowa Open Records Law (Chapter 22).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Bettendorf?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bettendorf police for its own arrests, the Scott County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Iowa Open Records Law (Chapter 22) the answer is due without delay; the law sets no fixed number of days, and a delay past 20 days must be justified; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountyiowa.gov/secc/open-records-request.
Is this the official Bettendorf website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.