Johnson County Arrest Records: Who Makes Arrests, Where People Are Booked and How to Get the Report

Who Makes Arrests in Johnson County

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Johnson County. It reported 417 arrests for 2025.

Arrests inside four 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:

• Iowa City, 76,710 residents: 2,426 arrests reported for 2025.
• Coralville, 23,959 residents: 527 arrests reported for 2025.
• North Liberty, 21,904 residents: 208 arrests reported for 2025.
• University Heights, 1,188 residents: 32 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 West Branch Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Johnson County, so its arrests are not broken out for Johnson County here.

The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Johnson County: the University of Iowa (campus police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Johnson 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.

• Iowa City: 2,426 for 2025, 2,139 for 2024, 2,149 for 2023, 1,971 for 2021, 1,511 for 2020 and 2,467 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
• Coralville: 527 for 2025, 494 for 2024, 437 for 2023, 520 for 2022, 420 for 2021 and 468 for 2020.
• Johnson County Sheriff's Office: 417 for 2025, 442 for 2024, 370 for 2023, 492 for 2022, 428 for 2021 and 573 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
• North Liberty: 208 for 2025, 269 for 2024, 255 for 2023, 188 for 2022, 240 for 2021 and 229 for 2020.
• University Heights: 32 for 2025, 3 for 2024 and 0 for 2023.

Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,610 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,610 in 2025 against 3,347 in 2024, up 7.9 percent.

Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,784 arrests, against 2,162 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Johnson County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Johnson 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 2021 the jail held about 69 people, down from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 92 beds, and it ran at 114 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 Johnson County

An arrest in Johnson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Johnson 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-6/distr..., phone 319-356-6060); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at johnsoncountyiowa.gov/department-of-county-attorney, phone 319-339-6100).

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 Johnson 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 Johnson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
• An arrest in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty or University Heights: 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 the University of Iowa: the records office of the agency involved.
• A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 319-339-6100, handles discovery for pending cases.
• The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 319-356-6060.
• Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at johnsoncountyiowa.gov/requests-public-records (page title: Johnson County Iowa requests for public records).
• Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.

Cities in Johnson County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the 11 cities in Johnson County: Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and University Heights. Tiffin, Solon, Lone Tree, Hills, Swisher, Shueyville and Oxford 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 Johnson County.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Johnson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

• Iowa City (76,710)
• Coralville (23,959)

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Johnson County each year?

Iowa City reported 2,426 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,610 between them.

Where are people arrested in Johnson County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Johnson 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 Johnson County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Johnson 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 johnsoncountyiowa.gov/requests-public-records.

Is this the official Johnson 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.