Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 October 9, 2026.
Adams County, Iowa, has about 3,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Adams County Sheriff's Office. An arrest 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 Adams County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Adams County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Adams County
The Adams County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Adams County. It reported 133 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Adams County Sheriff's Office 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.
- Adams County Sheriff's Office: 133 for 2025, 103 for 2024, 139 for 2023, 171 for 2022, 164 for 2021 and 199 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
The Adams County Sheriff's Office's 133 arrests in 2025 were up 29 percent from 103 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Adams County Sheriff's Office reported 19 arrests, against 23 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Adams County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Adams County 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 2019 the jail held about 34 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 2 beds, and it ran at 1700 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 Adams County Sheriff's Office at adamscountyso.com (page title: Welcome to the Adams County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Adams County
Whether someone was arrested in Adams County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Adams 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-5/distr..., phone 641-322-4711); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at adamscounty.iowa.gov/attorney/county_attorney_payment_plans, phone 641-322-4008).
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 Adams County
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 Adams County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 641-322-4008, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Adams County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 641-322-4711.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Adams County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Adams County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Adams County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Iowa District Court for Adams County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Adams County each year?
The Adams County Sheriff's Office reported 133 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Adams County?
Ask the Adams County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at adamscountyso.com.
Where are people arrested in Adams County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Adams County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Adams County?
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 Adams County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Adams County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Adams County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.