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.
Cedar County, Iowa, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cedar County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Cedar 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: Cedar County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cedar County
The Cedar County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cedar County. It reported 93 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Tipton, 3,059 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Branch, 2,876 residents: 4 arrests reported for 2025.
- Durant, 1,798 residents: 10 arrests reported for 2025.
- Clarence, 991 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mechanicsville, 974 residents: 1 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 Wilton Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Cedar County, so its arrests are not broken out for Cedar County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cedar County
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.
- Cedar County Sheriff's Office: 93 for 2025, 57 for 2024, 76 for 2023, 78 for 2022, 65 for 2021 and 239 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Tipton: 26 for 2025, 27 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 27 for 2022, 36 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
- Durant: 10 for 2025, 11 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 9 for 2022 and 28 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- West Branch: 4 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 4 for 2023, 7 for 2022, 8 for 2021 and 19 for 2020.
- Clarence: 2 for 2025, 0 for 2024 and 5 for 2023.
- Mechanicsville: 1 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 2 for 2022 and 8 for 2021.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 136 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 136 in 2025 against 104 in 2024, up 31 percent.
Through August 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 74 arrests, against 91 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cedar County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Cedar 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 2023 the jail held about 12 people, down from about 17 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 47 beds, and it ran at 26 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 Cedar County Sheriff's Office at cedarcounty.iowa.gov/sheriff/inmate_roster (page title: Inmate Roster | Sheriff's Office | Cedar County, Iowa), phone 563-331-9900, 400 Cedar St Tipton, IA 52772, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Cedar County
An arrest in Cedar County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Cedar County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Iowa District Court for Cedar 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-7/distr..., phone 563-886-2101).
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 Cedar 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 Cedar County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 563-331-9900.
- An arrest in Tipton, West Branch, Durant, Clarence or Mechanicsville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Cedar County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 563-886-2101.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Cedar County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the eight cities in Cedar County: Tipton, West Branch, Durant, Clarence and Mechanicsville. Lowden, Stanwood and Bennett 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 Cedar County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cedar County each year?
The Cedar County Sheriff's Office reported 93 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 136 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cedar County?
Look on the custody page of the Cedar County Sheriff's Office at cedarcounty.iowa.gov/sheriff/inmate_roster, or call 563-331-9900. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Cedar County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cedar County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cedar 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 Cedar County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cedar 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 Cedar 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.