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.
Ottumwa, Iowa, in Wapello County, has about 26,000 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 Wapello 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: Ottumwa public records, Wapello County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ottumwa
The FBI lists Ottumwa with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ottumwa Police Department. It reported 1,600 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 Wapello County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 277 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Wapello County: Southeast Iowa Interagency Drug Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Ottumwa Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Ottumwa: 1,600 for 2025, 1,792 for 2024, 1,670 for 2023, 2,151 for 2022, 2,255 for 2021 and 2,204 for 2020.
Ottumwa's 1,600 arrests in 2025 were down 11 percent from 1,792 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Ottumwa reported 945 arrests, against 1,128 in the same months of 2025.
Across Wapello County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,877 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ottumwa Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ottumwa is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 100 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 104 beds, and it ran at 98 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 Wapello County Sheriff's Office at wapellocounty.org/sheriff_and_jail/inmates (page title: Inmates & VINE | Sheriff and Jail | Wapello County, Iowa), phone 866-700-4545, 101 W. 4th St Ottumwa, IA 52501, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Ottumwa
An arrest in Ottumwa can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 wapellocounty.org/attorney, phone 641-683-0030).
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 Ottumwa
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 Ottumwa police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at ottumwa.us/departments/police (page title: Ottumwa, IA), phone 641-683-0600, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Wapello County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 866-700-4545.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 641-683-0030, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Wapello County guide covers every agency in the county: Wapello County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ottumwa each year?
Ottumwa reported 1,600 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ottumwa?
Ask the Wapello County Sheriff's Office at 866-700-4545; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wapellocounty.org/sheriff_and_jail/inmates.
Where are people arrested in Ottumwa booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wapello County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ottumwa?
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 Ottumwa?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ottumwa police for its own arrests, the Wapello 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 Ottumwa 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.