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 on September 24, 2026.
Benton County, Iowa, has about 26,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Benton County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. 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 Benton 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: Benton County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Benton County
The Benton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Benton County. It reported 140 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Benton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Vinton, 4,962 residents: 101 arrests reported for 2025.
- Belle Plaine, 2,335 residents: 16 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Benton County
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.
- Benton County Sheriff's Office: 140 for 2025, 120 for 2024, 119 for 2023, 138 for 2022 and 138 for 2021.
- Vinton: 101 for 2025, 32 for 2024, 60 for 2023, 78 for 2022, 60 for 2021 and 92 for 2020.
- Belle Plaine: 16 for 2025, 45 for 2024, 40 for 2023, 46 for 2022 and 45 for 2021.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 257 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 257 in 2025 against 197 in 2024, up 30 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 121 arrests, against 159 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Benton County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Benton County 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 33 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 38 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 Benton County Sheriff's Office at bentoncountyia.gov/sheriff/civil_division (page title: Civil Division | Sheriff | Benton County, IA), phone (319) 472-2337, 111 E 4th Street Vinton, IA 52349, 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 Benton County
An arrest in Benton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Benton 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-6/distr..., phone 319-472-2766); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bentoncountyia.gov/attorney, phone (319) 472-2436).
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 Benton County
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 Benton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (319) 472-2337.
- An arrest in Vinton or Belle Plaine: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (319) 472-2436, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Benton County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 319-472-2766.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Benton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the 14 cities in Benton County: Vinton and Belle Plaine. Atkins, Urbana, Walford, Shellsburg, Newhall, Van Horne, Blairstown, Keystone, Norway, Garrison, Mount Auburn and Luzerne have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
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 Benton County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Benton County each year?
The Benton County Sheriff's Office reported 140 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 257 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Benton County?
Ask the Benton County Sheriff's Office at (319) 472-2337; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bentoncountyia.gov/sheriff/civil_division.
Where are people arrested in Benton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Benton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Benton 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 Benton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Benton 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 Benton 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.