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 30, 2026.
Waterloo, Iowa, in Black Hawk County, has about 67,000 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 Black Hawk 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: Waterloo public records, Black Hawk County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Waterloo
The FBI lists Waterloo with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Waterloo Police Department. It reported 2,985 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 Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 463 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Black Hawk County: the University of Northern Iowa (campus police).
How Many Arrests Waterloo 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.
- Waterloo: 2,985 for 2025, 2,729 for 2024, 2,566 for 2023, 2,306 for 2022, 1,896 for 2021 and 1,868 for 2020.
Waterloo's 2,985 arrests in 2025 were up 9.4 percent from 2,729 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Waterloo reported 2,187 arrests, against 1,982 in the same months of 2025.
Across Black Hawk County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,328 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Waterloo Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Waterloo 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 260 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 272 beds, and it ran at 95 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office at bhcso.org/whos-in-jail (page title: Who's In Jail | Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Waterloo
An arrest in Waterloo can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk 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-1/distr..., phone 319-833-3331); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at blackhawkcounty.iowa.gov/716/Attorneys-Office, phone 319-833-3001).
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 Waterloo
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 Waterloo police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at waterloopolice.com/information/reports (page title: WPD Reports | Accident Logs, Arrest Records, Crime Stats | Waterloo Police), phone 319-291-2515, Monday - Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 319-833-3001, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 319-833-3331.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Black Hawk County guide covers every agency in the county: Black Hawk County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Waterloo each year?
Waterloo reported 2,985 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Waterloo?
Look on the custody page of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office at bhcso.org/whos-in-jail. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Waterloo booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Waterloo?
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 Waterloo?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Waterloo police for its own arrests, the Black Hawk 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 Waterloo 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.