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 September 30, 2026.
Black Hawk County, Iowa, has about 132,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and one campus agency. 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 Black Hawk 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: Black Hawk County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Black Hawk County
The Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Black Hawk County. It reported 463 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Waterloo, 67,477 residents: 2,985 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cedar Falls, 41,417 residents: 616 arrests reported for 2025.
- Evansdale, 4,515 residents: 264 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Black Hawk County: the University of Northern Iowa (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Black Hawk 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.
- 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.
- Cedar Falls: 616 for 2025 and 526 for 2021; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office: 463 for 2025, 646 for 2024, 848 for 2023, 891 for 2022, 996 for 2021 and 455 for 2020.
- Evansdale: 264 for 2025, 231 for 2024, 153 for 2023, 125 for 2022, 97 for 2021 and 127 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,328 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,712 in 2025 against 3,606 in 2024, up 2.9 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,075 arrests, against 2,837 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Black Hawk County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Black Hawk 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 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Iowa Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.iowa.gov/inmate-family-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Black Hawk County
Whether someone was arrested in Black Hawk County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: 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 Black Hawk 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 Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Waterloo, Cedar Falls or Evansdale: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the University of Northern Iowa: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Black Hawk County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the nine cities in Black Hawk County: Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Evansdale. Hudson, La Porte City, Elk Run Heights, Dunkerton, Gilbertville and Raymond 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 Black Hawk County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Black Hawk County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Waterloo (67,477)
- Cedar Falls (41,417)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Black Hawk County each year?
Waterloo reported 2,985 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,328 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Black Hawk County?
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 Black Hawk County 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 Black Hawk 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 Black Hawk County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Black Hawk 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 Black Hawk 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.