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.
Bremer County, Iowa, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bremer County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Bremer 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: Bremer County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bremer County
The Bremer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bremer County. It reported 117 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:
- Waverly, 10,576 residents: 146 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sumner, 2,032 residents: 8 arrests reported for 2025.
- Denver, 1,955 residents: 3 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 Bremer 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.
- Waverly: 146 for 2025, 146 for 2024, 195 for 2023, 219 for 2022, 244 for 2021 and 137 for 2020.
- Bremer County Sheriff's Office: 117 for 2025, 135 for 2024, 177 for 2023, 202 for 2021, 105 for 2020 and 164 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Sumner: 8 for 2025 and 2 for 2024.
- Denver: 3 for 2025, 10 for 2024, 11 for 2023, 22 for 2022 and 6 for 2021.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 274 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 274 in 2025 against 293 in 2024, down 6.5 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 175 arrests, against 169 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bremer County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Bremer 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 68 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 70 beds, and it ran at 97 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Bremer County
For Bremer County the place to look is the case index of the Iowa District Court for Bremer 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-2/distr..., phone 319-352-5661).
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 Bremer 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 Bremer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Waverly, Sumner or Denver: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Bremer County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 319-352-5661.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Bremer County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the eight cities in Bremer County: Waverly, Sumner and Denver. Tripoli, Janesville, Readlyn, Plainfield and Frederika 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 Bremer County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Bremer County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Waverly (10,576)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bremer County each year?
Waverly reported 146 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 274 between them.
Where are people arrested in Bremer County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bremer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bremer 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 Bremer County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bremer 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 Bremer 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.