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.
Howard County, Iowa, has about 9,400 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Howard 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 Howard 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: Howard County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Howard County
The Howard County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Howard County. It reported 38 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Howard County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Cresco, 3,890 residents: 51 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 Howard 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.
- Cresco: 51 for 2025 and 34 for 2024.
- Howard County Sheriff's Office: 38 for 2025, 50 for 2023, 58 for 2022, 56 for 2021, 52 for 2020 and 73 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 89 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 51 in 2025 against 34 in 2024.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 63 arrests, against 56 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Howard County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Howard 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 10 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 45 beds, and it ran at 22 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Howard County
Whether someone was arrested in Howard County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Howard County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/ESALogin.jsp); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at howardcounty.iowa.gov/attorney, phone (563) 547-9202).
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 Howard 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 Howard County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Cresco: 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, (563) 547-9202, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Howard County, through the court records page at iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/ESALogin.jsp.
- 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.
Cities in Howard County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Howard County: Cresco. Elma, Lime Springs, Protivin and Chester 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 Howard County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Howard County each year?
Cresco reported 51 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 89 between them.
Where are people arrested in Howard County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Howard County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Howard 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 Howard County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Howard 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 Howard 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.