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 30, 2026.
Buchanan County, Iowa, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Buchanan 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 Buchanan 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: Buchanan County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Buchanan County
The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Buchanan County. It reported 353 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Buchanan County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Independence, 6,266 residents: 135 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fairbank, 1,133 residents: 2 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 Buchanan 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.
- Buchanan County Sheriff's Office: 353 for 2025, 342 for 2024, 357 for 2023, 328 for 2022, 356 for 2021 and 391 for 2020.
- Independence: 135 for 2025, 161 for 2024, 144 for 2023, 187 for 2022, 101 for 2021 and 119 for 2020.
- Fairbank: 2 for 2025 and 3 for 2024.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 490 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 490 in 2025 against 506 in 2024, down 3.2 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 332 arrests, against 322 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Buchanan County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Buchanan 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 40 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 42 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 jail page of the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office at buchanancounty.iowa.gov/departments/sheriff/index.php (page title: Buchanan County Sheriff), phone (319) 334-2568, Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Buchanan County
An arrest in Buchanan County 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 buchanancounty.iowa.gov/departments/county_attorney/index.php).
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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (319) 334-2568.
- An arrest in Independence or Fairbank: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- 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.
Cities in Buchanan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the 11 cities in Buchanan County: Independence and Fairbank. Jesup, Winthrop, Hazleton, Quasqueton, Lamont, Brandon, Rowley, Aurora and Stanley 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 Buchanan County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Buchanan County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Independence (6,266)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Buchanan County each year?
The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office reported 353 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 490 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Buchanan County?
Ask the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office at (319) 334-2568; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at buchanancounty.iowa.gov.
Where are people arrested in Buchanan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Buchanan 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 Buchanan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Buchanan 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 Buchanan 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.