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 October 4, 2026.
Clayton County, Iowa, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clayton 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 Clayton 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: Clayton County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clayton County
The Clayton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clayton County. It reported 79 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The Postville Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Clayton County, so its arrests are not broken out for Clayton County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clayton 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.
- Clayton County Sheriff's Office: 79 for 2024, 115 for 2023, 122 for 2022, 119 for 2021, 80 for 2020 and 162 for 2019.
- Mar-Mac: 44 for 2025, 36 for 2024, 48 for 2023, 10 for 2022 and 1 for 2021.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 115 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 115 in 2024 against 163 in 2023, down 29 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clayton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clayton 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 14 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 44 beds, and it ran at 32 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 Clayton County Sheriff's Office at claytoncountyia.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff's Office | Clayton County Government | Iowa), phone 563-245-2422, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Clayton County
Whether someone was arrested in Clayton County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Clayton 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-1/distr..., phone 563-245-2204); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at claytoncountyia.gov/attorney, phone 563-245-3888).
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 Clayton 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 Clayton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 563-245-2422.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 563-245-3888, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Clayton County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 563-245-2204.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Clayton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Clayton County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'. The FBI's list also carries the Mar-Mac Police Department as a city agency in Clayton County; Mar-Mac is not among the cities above.
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 Clayton County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clayton County each year?
The Clayton County Sheriff's Office reported 79 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the two agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 115 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clayton County?
Ask the Clayton County Sheriff's Office at 563-245-2422; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at claytoncountyia.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Clayton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clayton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clayton 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 Clayton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clayton 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 Clayton 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.