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.
Hancock County, Iowa, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office. 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 Hancock 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: Hancock County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hancock County
The Hancock County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hancock County. It reported 103 arrests for 2025.
The Forest City Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Hancock County, so its arrests are not broken out for Hancock County here.
How Many Arrests The Hancock County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Hancock County Sheriff's Office: 103 for 2025, 114 for 2024, 117 for 2023, 77 for 2022, 113 for 2021 and 83 for 2020.
The Hancock County Sheriff's Office's 103 arrests in 2025 were down 9.6 percent from 114 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Hancock County Sheriff's Office reported 60 arrests, against 69 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hancock County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hancock 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 2017 the jail held about 7 people. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Hancock County Sheriff's Office at hancockcountyia.gov/sheriff/jail_division (page title: Jail Division | Sheriff's Office | Hancock County, Iowa), phone 641-923-2621, 855 State St. Garner, IA 50438, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Hancock County
An arrest in Hancock County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Hancock 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 641-923-2532); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hancockcountyia.gov/attorney, phone 641-923-4198).
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 Hancock 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 Hancock County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 641-923-2621.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 641-923-4198, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Hancock County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 641-923-2532.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Hancock County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Hancock County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
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 Hancock County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hancock County each year?
The Hancock County Sheriff's Office reported 103 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hancock County?
Ask the Hancock County Sheriff's Office at 641-923-2621; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hancockcountyia.gov/sheriff/jail_division.
Where are people arrested in Hancock County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hancock 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 Hancock County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hancock 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 Hancock 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.