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 30, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Harrison County, Iowa, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Harrison 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 Harrison 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: Harrison County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Harrison County
The Harrison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Harrison County. It reported 69 arrests for 2020, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists one city in Harrison County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Missouri Valley, 2,638 residents: 134 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Harrison 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.
- Missouri Valley: 134 for 2020 and 121 for 2019.
- Harrison County Sheriff's Office: 69 for 2020 and 118 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2020 on file reported 203 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2020 and 2019 complete reported 203 in 2020 against 239 in 2019, down 15 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Harrison County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Harrison 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 11 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 21 beds, and it ran at 52 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 Harrison County Sheriff's Office at harrisoncounty.iowa.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Harrison County, Iowa), phone (712) 600-9774, 111 S 1st Ave. Logan, IA 51546, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Harrison County
Whether someone was arrested in Harrison County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: Iowa Courts Online, the Iowa Judicial Branch's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at harrisoncounty.iowa.gov/attorney, phone (712) 600-6004).
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 Harrison 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 Harrison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (712) 600-9774.
- An arrest in Missouri Valley: 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) 600-6004, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Harrison County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the ten cities in Harrison County: Missouri Valley. Woodbine, Logan, Dunlap, Mondamin, Persia, Modale, Pisgah, Magnolia and Little Sioux 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 Harrison County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Harrison County each year?
Missouri Valley reported 134 arrests to the FBI for 2020, and the two agencies with every month of 2020 on file reported 203 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Harrison County?
Ask the Harrison County Sheriff's Office at (712) 600-9774; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at harrisoncounty.iowa.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Harrison County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Harrison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Harrison 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 Harrison County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Harrison 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 Harrison 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.