Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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.
Grimes, Iowa, in Polk County, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). 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 Polk County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Grimes public records, Polk County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Grimes
The FBI lists no arrest reporting agency under the name of Grimes. In Polk County the county agency that reports arrests is the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Polk County: Polk County Conservation Law Enforcement (other).
Booking: Where People Arrested in Grimes Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Grimes 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 2024 the jail held about 950 people, down from about 1,030 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,120 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office at polkinmates.polkcountyiowa.gov (page title: Jail & Arrest Information | Polk Inmates), 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 Grimes
Whether someone was arrested in Grimes, and what came of it, shows up in two places: Iowa Courts Online, the Iowa Judicial Branch's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at polkcountyiowa.gov/county-attorney).
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 Grimes
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 Grimes police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at grimesiowa.gov/159/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records Requests | Grimes, IA), phone 515-986-3036, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Polk County guide covers every agency in the county: Polk County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Grimes?
Ask the Polk County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at polkinmates.polkcountyiowa.gov.
Where are people arrested in Grimes booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Grimes?
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 Grimes?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Polk County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Grimes 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.