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.
West Des Moines, Iowa, in Polk County, has about 74,000 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 Polk 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: West Des Moines public records, Polk County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in West Des Moines
The FBI lists West Des Moines with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as West Des Moines Police Department. It reported 1,100 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,458 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Polk County: Polk County Conservation Law Enforcement (other).
How Many Arrests West Des Moines 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.
- West Des Moines: 1,100 for 2025, 1,293 for 2024, 1,529 for 2023, 1,424 for 2022, 1,527 for 2020 and 1,645 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
West Des Moines's 1,100 arrests in 2025 were down 15 percent from 1,293 in 2024.
Through August 2026, West Des Moines reported 721 arrests, against 716 in the same months of 2025.
Across Polk County, the ten agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 12,100 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in West Des Moines Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in West Des Moines 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 2024 the jail held about 950 people, down from about 1,030 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,120 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office at polkinmates.polkcountyiowa.gov (page title: Jail & Arrest Information | Polk Inmates), 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 West Des Moines
An arrest in West Des Moines 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 polkcountyiowa.gov/county-attorney).
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 West Des Moines
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 West Des Moines police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at wdm.iowa.gov/government/police/learn-about-us/records (page title: Records | West Des Moines, IA), phone 515-222-3320, Monday - Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Polk County guide covers every agency in the county: Polk County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in West Des Moines each year?
West Des Moines reported 1,100 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in West Des Moines?
Ask the Polk County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at polkinmates.polkcountyiowa.gov.
Where are people arrested in West Des Moines booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in West Des Moines?
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 West Des Moines?
From the agency that made the arrest: the West Des Moines police for its own arrests, the Polk 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 West Des Moines 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.