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 October 9, 2026.
Monroe County, Iowa, has about 7,400 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Monroe 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 Monroe 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: Monroe County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Monroe County. It reported 52 arrests for 2025.
One city in Monroe County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Albia, 3,579 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Monroe 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.
- Monroe County Sheriff's Office: 52 for 2025, 44 for 2021, 44 for 2020 and 58 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Albia: 32 for 2025, 49 for 2024, 58 for 2023, 74 for 2022, 88 for 2021 and 75 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 84 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 32 in 2025 against 49 in 2024, down 35 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 53 arrests, against 54 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Monroe County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Monroe 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 24 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 26 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office at monroecosheriffga.us/offender-search (page title: Offender Search | mcso-html), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Iowa Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.iowa.gov/inmate-family-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Monroe County
Whether someone was arrested in Monroe County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Monroe 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-8/distr..., phone 641-932-5212); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at monroecounty.iowa.gov/offices/attorney, phone 641-932-5155).
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 Monroe 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Albia: 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, 641-932-5155, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Monroe County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 641-932-5212.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Monroe County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Monroe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Monroe County: Albia. Lovilia and Melrose 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 Monroe County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Monroe County each year?
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office reported 52 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 84 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Monroe County?
Ask the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at monroecosheriffga.us/offender-search.
Where are people arrested in Monroe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Monroe 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 Monroe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Monroe 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 Monroe 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.