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 on September 24, 2026.
Mahaska County, Iowa, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mahaska County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Mahaska 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: Mahaska County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mahaska County
The Mahaska County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mahaska County. It reported 92 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Mahaska County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Oskaloosa, 11,575 residents: 345 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Sharon, 1,249 residents: 0 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 Pella Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Mahaska County, so its arrests are not broken out for Mahaska County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Mahaska 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.
- Oskaloosa: 345 for 2025, 324 for 2024, 397 for 2023, 332 for 2022, 348 for 2021 and 354 for 2020.
- Mahaska County Sheriff's Office: 92 for 2025, 91 for 2024, 117 for 2023, 126 for 2022, 97 for 2021 and 77 for 2020.
- New Sharon: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024 and 5 for 2023.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 437 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 437 in 2025 against 415 in 2024, up 5.3 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 245 arrests, against 298 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mahaska County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mahaska 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 28 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 41 beds, and it ran at 68 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 Mahaska County Sheriff's Office at mahaskacountyia.gov/sheriff/jail (page title: Jail | Mahaska County, Iowa), phone 800-896-3201, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Mahaska County
An arrest in Mahaska County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mahaskacountyia.gov/clerk_of_court, phone (641) 673-7786); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at mahaskacountyia.gov/attorney, phone (641) 673-9819).
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 Mahaska 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 Mahaska County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 800-896-3201.
- An arrest in Oskaloosa or New Sharon: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (641) 673-9819, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, through the court records page at mahaskacountyia.gov/clerk_of_court, phone (641) 673-7786.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Mahaska County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the nine cities in Mahaska County: Oskaloosa and New Sharon. Fremont, University Park, Beacon, Rose Hill, Leighton, Barnes City and Keomah Village 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 Mahaska County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Mahaska County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Oskaloosa (11,575)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mahaska County each year?
Oskaloosa reported 345 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 437 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mahaska County?
Ask the Mahaska County Sheriff's Office at 800-896-3201; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mahaskacountyia.gov/sheriff/jail.
Where are people arrested in Mahaska County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mahaska County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mahaska 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 Mahaska County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mahaska 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 Mahaska 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.