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.
Cherokee County, Iowa, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Cherokee 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: Cherokee County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cherokee County
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cherokee County. It reported 54 arrests for 2025.
One city in Cherokee County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Cherokee, 5,186 residents: 115 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 Cherokee 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.
- Cherokee: 115 for 2025, 145 for 2024, 121 for 2023, 99 for 2021 and 136 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
- Cherokee County Sheriff's Office: 54 for 2025, 97 for 2023, 74 for 2022, 91 for 2021, 46 for 2020 and 60 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 169 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 115 in 2025 against 145 in 2024, down 21 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 105 arrests, against 117 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cherokee County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cherokee 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 9 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 21 beds, and it ran at 43 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 Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at cherokeecounty.iowa.gov/departments/offices_f_-_z/sheriff/index.php (page title: Cherokee County, IA), phone (712)225-6737, 111 North 5th Street Cherokee, IA 51012, 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 Cherokee County
Whether someone was arrested in Cherokee County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Cherokee 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-3/distr..., phone 712-225-6744); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cherokeecounty.iowa.gov/departments/offices_a_-_e/attorney.php, phone (712) 225-2835).
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 Cherokee 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 Cherokee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (712)225-6737.
- An arrest in Cherokee: 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, (712) 225-2835, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Cherokee County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 712-225-6744.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Cherokee County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the eight cities in Cherokee County: Cherokee. Marcus, Aurelia, Quimby, Cleghorn, Washta, Meriden and Larrabee 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 Cherokee County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cherokee County each year?
Cherokee reported 115 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 169 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cherokee County?
Ask the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at (712)225-6737; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cherokeecounty.iowa.gov.
Where are people arrested in Cherokee County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cherokee 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 Cherokee County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cherokee 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 Cherokee 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.