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 2019. 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.
Nevada, Iowa, in Story County, has about 7,100 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 Story 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: Nevada public records, Story County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Nevada
The FBI lists Nevada with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Nevada Police Department. It reported 199 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year. 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 Story County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 169 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Story County: Iowa State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Nevada 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.
- Nevada: 199 for 2019.
Across Story County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,097 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Nevada Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Nevada 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 49 people, down from about 90 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 104 beds, and it ran at 87 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 Story County Sheriff's Office at storycountyiowa.gov/QuickLinks.aspx?CID=135 (page title: Quick Links, Sheriff's Office | Jail), 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 Nevada
Whether someone was arrested in Nevada, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Story County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at storycountyiowa.gov/QuickLinks.aspx?CID=104); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at storycountyiowa.gov/90/County-Attorney, phone (515) 382-7255).
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 Nevada
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 Nevada police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofnevadaiowa.org/departments/police-department (page title: Police Department | City of Nevada, Iowa), phone 515-382-4305, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Story County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (515) 382-7255, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Story County, through the court records page at storycountyiowa.gov/QuickLinks.aspx?CID=104.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at storycountyiowa.gov/830/Open-Records-Requests (page title: Open Records Requests | Story County, IA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Story County guide covers every agency in the county: Story County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Nevada each year?
Nevada reported 199 arrests to the FBI for 2019, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Nevada?
Ask the Story County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at storycountyiowa.gov/QuickLinks.aspx?CID=135.
Where are people arrested in Nevada booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Story County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Nevada?
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 Nevada?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Nevada police for its own arrests, the Story 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 storycountyiowa.gov/830/Open-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Nevada 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.