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.
Iowa City, Iowa, in Johnson County, has about 77,000 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 Johnson 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: Iowa City public records, Johnson County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Iowa City
The FBI lists Iowa City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Iowa City Police Department. It reported 2,426 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 Johnson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 417 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Johnson County: the University of Iowa (campus police).
How Many Arrests Iowa City 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.
- Iowa City: 2,426 for 2025, 2,139 for 2024, 2,149 for 2023, 1,971 for 2021, 1,511 for 2020 and 2,467 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Iowa City's 2,426 arrests in 2025 were up 13 percent from 2,139 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Iowa City reported 1,379 arrests, against 1,645 in the same months of 2025.
Across Johnson County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,610 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Iowa City Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Iowa City 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 2021 the jail held about 69 people, down from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 92 beds, and it ran at 114 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Iowa City
Whether someone was arrested in Iowa City, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Johnson 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-6/distr..., phone 319-356-6060); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at johnsoncountyiowa.gov/department-of-county-attorney, phone 319-339-6100).
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 Iowa City
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 Iowa City police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at icgov.org/government/departments-and-divisions/police-department/fi... (page title: File a Police Report | Iowa City, IA), phone 319-356-5275, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 319-339-6100, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 319-356-6060.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at johnsoncountyiowa.gov/requests-public-records (page title: Johnson County Iowa requests for public records).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Johnson County guide covers every agency in the county: Johnson County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Iowa City each year?
Iowa City reported 2,426 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Iowa City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Iowa City?
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 Iowa City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Iowa City police for its own arrests, the Johnson 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 johnsoncountyiowa.gov/requests-public-records.
Is this the official Iowa City 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.