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 9, 2026.
Clinton County, Iowa, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clinton County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Clinton 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: Clinton County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clinton County
The Clinton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clinton County. It reported 118 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Clinton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Clinton, 24,118 residents: 728 arrests reported for 2025.
- DeWitt, 5,620 residents: 71 arrests reported for 2025.
- Camanche, 4,536 residents: 47 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 Clinton 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.
- Clinton: 728 for 2025, 804 for 2024, 858 for 2023, 769 for 2022, 750 for 2021 and 809 for 2020.
- Clinton County Sheriff's Office: 118 for 2025, 121 for 2024, 93 for 2023, 76 for 2022, 59 for 2021 and 212 for 2020.
- DeWitt: 71 for 2025, 67 for 2024, 79 for 2023, 64 for 2022, 60 for 2021 and 60 for 2020.
- Camanche: 47 for 2025, 50 for 2024, 48 for 2023, 49 for 2022, 38 for 2021 and 76 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 964 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 964 in 2025 against 1,042 in 2024, down 7.5 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 676 arrests, against 681 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clinton County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Clinton 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 2021 the jail held about 65 people, up from about 53 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2018, the last year with a capacity figure, was 44 beds, and it ran at 118 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 Clinton County Sheriff's Office at clintoncounty-ia.gov/sheriff/operations (page title: Operations | Sheriff | Clinton County Government | Iowa), phone 563-242-9211, 241 Seventh Avenue North Clinton, IA 52732, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
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 Clinton County
Whether someone was arrested in Clinton County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at clintoncounty-ia.gov/courts, phone (563) 243-6213); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at clintoncounty-ia.gov/attorney, phone 563-243-6218).
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 Clinton 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 Clinton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 563-242-9211.
- An arrest in Clinton, DeWitt or Camanche: 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, 563-243-6218, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, through the court records page at clintoncounty-ia.gov/courts, phone (563) 243-6213.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ia.iowadot.gov/openrecords (page title: Open Records Request | FOIA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Clinton County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Clinton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 14 cities in Clinton County: Clinton, DeWitt and Camanche. Wheatland, Grand Mound, Delmar, Lost Nation, Charlotte, Calamus, Goose Lake, Low Moor, Welton, Andover and Toronto 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 Clinton County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Clinton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- DeWitt (5,620)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clinton County each year?
Clinton reported 728 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 964 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clinton County?
Ask the Clinton County Sheriff's Office at 563-242-9211; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at clintoncounty-ia.gov/sheriff/operations.
Where are people arrested in Clinton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clinton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clinton 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 Clinton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clinton 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ia.iowadot.gov/openrecords.
Is this the official Clinton 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.