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.
Indianola, Iowa, in Warren County, has about 16,000 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 Warren 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: Indianola public records, Warren County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Indianola
The FBI lists Indianola with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Indianola Police Department. It reported 700 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 Warren County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 128 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Indianola 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.
- Indianola: 700 for 2025, 567 for 2024, 455 for 2023, 458 for 2022, 357 for 2021 and 461 for 2020.
Indianola's 700 arrests in 2025 were up 23 percent from 567 in 2024.
Across Warren County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,045 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Indianola Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Indianola 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 2018 the jail held about 5 people. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Iowa Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.iowa.gov/inmate-family-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Indianola
An arrest in Indianola can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Warren 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-5/distr..., phone 515-690-9260); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at warrencountyia.gov/government/county-government/attorney, phone 515-690-9120).
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 Indianola
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Indianola police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at indianolaiowa.gov/1000/Copying-of-Records (page title: Copying of Records | Indianola, IA), phone 515-961-9400, 110 N. 1st St. Indianola, IA 50125, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Warren County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 515-690-9120, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Warren County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 515-690-9260.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Warren County guide covers every agency in the county: Warren County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Indianola each year?
Indianola reported 700 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Indianola booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Warren County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Indianola?
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 Indianola?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Indianola police for its own arrests, the Warren 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 Indianola 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.