Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Madison County, Iowa, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Iowa the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of the District Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Madison County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Madison County public records, Madison County arrest records, Madison County warrants, Madison County inmate search, Madison County court records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Iowa District Court for Madison County
In Iowa the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Madison County are heard by the Iowa District Court for Madison County, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of the District Court.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/district-court/judicial-district-5/distr... (page title: Madison | Judicial District 5 | Iowa Judicial Branch), phone 515-462-4451, 5848 Juvenile Court Office 112 N John Wayne Drive Winterset, IA 50273, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, Iowa Courts Online is the Iowa Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
The Iowa Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Madison County
The Madison County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Winterset and Earlham keep the arrest records in Madison County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The West Des Moines Police Department is listed by the FBI across four counties including Madison County, so its arrests are not broken out for Madison County here.
Together, the two agencies in Madison County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 108 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Madison County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Madison County in 2025
The three agencies in Madison County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 21 violent and 61 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 82 crimes in 2025 against 95 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Madison County public records guide.
The County Attorney for Madison County
Charges in Madison County are filed by the County Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Iowa District Court for Madison County.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at madisoncounty.iowa.gov/offices/county-attorney (page title: Attorney | Madison County, Iowa 2 2 | Madison County Iowa), phone (515) 462-5034, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Madison County
Registered sex offenders living in Madison County are listed on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, run by the Iowa Department of Public Safety at iowasexoffender.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff registers them.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Madison County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Iowa Open Records Law (Chapter 22) a county office must answer a request 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Madison 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).
Can I search Madison County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at iowacourts.gov (page title: Madison | Judicial District 5 | Iowa Judicial Branch). Statewide, Iowa Courts Online is the Iowa Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Iowa criminal history?
Through the same record check, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Madison County?
The County Attorney, reached at (515) 462-5034, which files its cases in the Iowa District Court for Madison County.
Is this the official Madison 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.