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.
Plymouth County, Iowa, has about 26,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Plymouth 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 Plymouth 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: Plymouth County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Plymouth County
The Plymouth County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Plymouth County. It reported 225 arrests for 2025.
One city in Plymouth County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Le Mars, 10,674 residents: 381 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 Sioux City Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Plymouth County, so its arrests are not broken out for Plymouth County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Plymouth 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.
- Le Mars: 381 for 2025, 372 for 2024, 357 for 2023, 414 for 2022, 344 for 2021 and 516 for 2020.
- Plymouth County Sheriff's Office: 225 for 2025, 218 for 2024, 216 for 2023, 247 for 2022, 235 for 2021 and 276 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 606 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 606 in 2025 against 590 in 2024, up 2.7 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 355 arrests, against 437 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Plymouth County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Plymouth 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 2020 the jail held about 26 people, down from about 30 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 35 beds, and it ran at 86 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 Plymouth County Sheriff's Office at plymouthcountysheriff.com/divisions/jail (page title: Jail | Plymouth County Sheriff's Office), phone 712-546-4419, 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 Plymouth County
An arrest in Plymouth County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at plymouthcountyiowa.gov/departments/clerk-of-district-courts, phone 712-546-4215); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at plymouthcountyiowa.gov/departments/attorney, phone (712) 546-5019).
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 Plymouth 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 Plymouth County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 712-546-4419.
- An arrest in Le Mars: 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, (712) 546-5019, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, through the court records page at plymouthcountyiowa.gov, phone 712-546-4215.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Plymouth County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the 11 cities in Plymouth County: Le Mars. Remsen, Akron, Kingsley, Hinton, Merrill, Brunsville, Westfield, Oyens, Craig and Struble 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 Plymouth County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Plymouth County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Le Mars (10,674)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Plymouth County each year?
Le Mars reported 381 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 606 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Plymouth County?
Ask the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office at 712-546-4419; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at plymouthcountysheriff.com/divisions/jail.
Where are people arrested in Plymouth County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Plymouth 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 Plymouth County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Plymouth 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 Plymouth 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.