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.
Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, has about 42,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo 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: Cerro Gordo County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cerro Gordo County
The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cerro Gordo County. It reported 395 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Mason City, 26,948 residents: 1,224 arrests reported for 2025.
- Clear Lake, 7,602 residents: 226 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 Cerro Gordo 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.
- Mason City: 1,224 for 2025, 1,131 for 2024, 1,073 for 2023, 1,101 for 2022, 977 for 2021 and 1,168 for 2020.
- Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office: 395 for 2025, 414 for 2024, 461 for 2023, 469 for 2022, 593 for 2021 and 448 for 2020.
- Clear Lake: 226 for 2025, 259 for 2024, 311 for 2023, 288 for 2022, 280 for 2021 and 233 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,845 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,845 in 2025 against 1,804 in 2024, up 2.3 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,062 arrests, against 1,056 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cerro Gordo County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Cerro Gordo 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 2021 the jail held about 42 people, down from about 81 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 171 beds, and it ran at 47 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 Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office at cerrogordo.gov/sheriff/jail (page title: Jail | Sheriff's Office | Cerro Gordo County, Iowa), phone 641-421-3019, 17262 Lark Ave. Mason City, IA 50401, Wednesdays 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., 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 Cerro Gordo County
An arrest in Cerro Gordo County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo 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 641-424-6431); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cerrogordo.gov/attorney, phone 641-421-3101).
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 Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 641-421-3019.
- An arrest in Mason City or Clear Lake: 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, 641-421-3101, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 641-424-6431.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Cerro Gordo County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the ten cities in Cerro Gordo County: Mason City and Clear Lake. Rockwell, Ventura, Thornton, Plymouth, Meservey, Rock Falls, Swaledale and Dougherty 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 Cerro Gordo County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cerro Gordo County each year?
Mason City reported 1,224 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,845 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cerro Gordo County?
Ask the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office at 641-421-3019; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cerrogordo.gov/sheriff/jail.
Where are people arrested in Cerro Gordo County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cerro Gordo 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 Cerro Gordo 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.