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.
Des Moines County, Iowa, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Des Moines County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one other 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 Des Moines 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: Des Moines County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Des Moines County
The Des Moines County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Des Moines County. It reported 546 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:
- Burlington, 23,637 residents: 843 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Burlington, 3,249 residents: 333 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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Des Moines County: Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force Burlington (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Des Moines 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.
- Burlington: 843 for 2025, 938 for 2024, 1,056 for 2023, 1,134 for 2022, 1,221 for 2021 and 969 for 2020.
- Des Moines County Sheriff's Office: 546 for 2025, 545 for 2024, 535 for 2023, 472 for 2022, 406 for 2021 and 418 for 2020.
- West Burlington: 333 for 2025, 347 for 2024, 386 for 2023, 390 for 2022, 285 for 2021 and 312 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,722 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,722 in 2025 against 1,830 in 2024, down 5.9 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 964 arrests, against 993 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Des Moines County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Des Moines 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 2023 the jail held about 75 people, down from about 90 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 68 beds, and it ran at 110 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 Des Moines County Sheriff's Office at desmoinescounty.iowa.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Des Moines County Government | Iowa), phone 319-753-8212, 512 N. Main St. Burlington, IA 52601, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 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 Des Moines County
Whether someone was arrested in Des Moines County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at iowacourts.gov/for-the-public/public-records-requests); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at desmoinescounty.iowa.gov/attorney, phone 319-753-8209).
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 Des Moines 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 Des Moines County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 319-753-8212.
- An arrest in Burlington or West Burlington: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force Burlington: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 319-753-8209, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at iowacourts.gov (page title: Public Records Requests | Iowa Judicial Branch).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Des Moines County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Des Moines County: Burlington and West Burlington. Mediapolis, Danville and Middletown 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 Des Moines County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Des Moines County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Burlington (23,637)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Des Moines County each year?
Burlington reported 843 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,722 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Des Moines County?
Ask the Des Moines County Sheriff's Office at 319-753-8212; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at desmoinescounty.iowa.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Des Moines County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Des Moines County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Des Moines 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 Des Moines County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Des Moines 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 iowacourts.gov.
Is this the official Des Moines 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.