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.
Jackson County, Iowa, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jackson 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 Jackson 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: Jackson County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jackson County
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jackson County. It reported 66 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Jackson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Maquoketa, 6,064 residents: 190 arrests reported for 2025.
- Preston, 940 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sabula, 498 residents: 7 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 Jackson 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.
- Maquoketa: 190 for 2025, 202 for 2024, 165 for 2023, 192 for 2022, 207 for 2021 and 268 for 2020.
- Jackson County Sheriff's Office: 66 for 2025, 78 for 2024, 97 for 2023, 66 for 2022, 173 for 2020 and 253 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Preston: 7 for 2025, 6 for 2024, 2 for 2023 and 20 for 2022.
- Sabula: 7 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 6 for 2023, 7 for 2022 and 9 for 2021.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 270 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 270 in 2025 against 293 in 2024, down 7.8 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 138 arrests, against 185 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jackson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jackson 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 14 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 9 beds, and it ran at 156 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at jacksoncountyso.com/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | Jackson County Sheriff's Office), phone 877-654-8463, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Jackson County
An arrest in Jackson County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Iowa District Court for Jackson 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-7/distr..., phone 563-652-4946); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jacksoncounty.iowa.gov/attorney, phone 563-652-3214).
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 Jackson 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 Jackson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 877-654-8463.
- An arrest in Maquoketa, Preston or Sabula: 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, 563-652-3214, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Jackson County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 563-652-4946.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jacksoncounty.iowa.gov/sheriff/records (page title: Open Records Requests | Sheriff | Jackson County, Iowa).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Jackson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 12 cities in Jackson County: Maquoketa, Preston and Sabula. Bellevue, Miles, Andrew, La Motte, Springbrook, Monmouth, St. Donatus, Baldwin and Spragueville 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 Jackson County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jackson County each year?
Maquoketa reported 190 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 270 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jackson County?
Look on the custody page of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at jacksoncountyso.com/inmate-search, or call 877-654-8463. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Jackson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jackson 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 Jackson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jackson 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 jacksoncounty.iowa.gov/sheriff/records.
Is this the official Jackson 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.