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.
Muscatine County, Iowa, has about 42,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Muscatine 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 Muscatine 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: Muscatine County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Muscatine County
The Muscatine County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Muscatine County. It reported 344 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Muscatine, 23,298 residents: 978 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Liberty, 3,724 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wilton, 2,914 residents: 52 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Blue Grass Police Department and the Durant Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Muscatine County, so their arrests are not broken out for Muscatine County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Muscatine 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.
- Muscatine: 978 for 2025, 1,190 for 2024, 1,120 for 2023, 1,095 for 2022, 1,137 for 2021 and 1,123 for 2020.
- Muscatine County Sheriff's Office: 344 for 2024, 358 for 2023, 268 for 2021, 334 for 2020 and 330 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Wilton: 52 for 2024, 110 for 2023 and 29 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- West Liberty: 44 for 2025, 41 for 2024, 25 for 2023, 18 for 2022, 4 for 2021 and 36 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,627 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,627 in 2024 against 1,613 in 2023, up 0.9 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Muscatine County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Muscatine 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 240 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 255 beds, and it ran at 96 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 Muscatine County Sheriff's Office at muscatinecountyiowa.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Departments | Muscatine County, IA), phone 563-264-0188, 3600 Park Ave. W Muscatine, IA 52761, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, 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 Muscatine County
Whether someone was arrested in Muscatine County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Muscatine 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 563-263-6511); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at muscatinecountyiowa.gov/attorney, phone 563-263-0382).
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 Muscatine 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 Muscatine County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 563-264-0188.
- An arrest in Muscatine, West Liberty or Wilton: 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, 563-263-0382, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 563-263-6511.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at muscatineiowa.gov/1241/Record-Requests (page title: Record Requests | Muscatine, IA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Muscatine County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the eight cities in Muscatine County: Muscatine, West Liberty and Wilton. Fruitland, Conesville, Nichols, Atalissa and Stockton 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 Muscatine County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Muscatine County each year?
Muscatine reported 978 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Muscatine County sent in full, the four with every month on file reported 1,627 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Muscatine County?
Ask the Muscatine County Sheriff's Office at 563-264-0188; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at muscatinecountyiowa.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Muscatine County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Muscatine County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Muscatine 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 Muscatine County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Muscatine 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 muscatineiowa.gov/1241/Record-Requests.
Is this the official Muscatine 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.