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.
Estherville, Iowa, in Emmet County, has about 5,800 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 Emmet 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: Estherville public records, Emmet County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Estherville
The FBI lists Estherville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Estherville Police Department. It reported 98 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 Emmet County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 81 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Estherville Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Estherville: 98 for 2025, 64 for 2024, 73 for 2022, 83 for 2021, 94 for 2020 and 123 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Estherville's 98 arrests in 2025 were up 53 percent from 64 in 2024.
Through April 2026, Estherville reported 22 arrests, against 22 in the same months of 2025.
Across Emmet County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 179 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Estherville Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Estherville and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 9 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 12 beds, and it ran at 75 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Emmet County Sheriff's Office at emmetcountyia.gov/county-offices/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Emmet County Iowa), phone 888-742-8463, 114 North 6th Street Suite #2 Estherville, IA 51334, Thursdays and Sundays from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Estherville
Whether someone was arrested in Estherville, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Emmet County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/district-court/judicial-district-3/distr..., phone 712-362-3325); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at emmetcountyia.gov/county-offices/attorney, phone 888-742-8463).
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 Estherville
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 Estherville police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofestherville.org/departments/police/index.php (page title: City of Estherville, IA), phone (712) 362-3515, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Emmet County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 888-742-8463.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 888-742-8463, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Emmet County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 712-362-3325.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Emmet County guide covers every agency in the county: Emmet County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Estherville each year?
Estherville reported 98 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Estherville?
Ask the Emmet County Sheriff's Office at 888-742-8463; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at emmetcountyia.gov/county-offices/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Estherville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Emmet County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Estherville?
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 Estherville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Estherville police for its own arrests, the Emmet 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.
Is this the official Estherville 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.