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.
Poweshiek County, Iowa, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Poweshiek 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 Poweshiek 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: Poweshiek County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Poweshiek County
The Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Poweshiek County. It reported 40 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Poweshiek County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Grinnell, 9,495 residents: 175 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 Poweshiek 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.
- Grinnell: 175 for 2025, 173 for 2024, 167 for 2023, 188 for 2022, 173 for 2021 and 183 for 2020.
- Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office: 40 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 53 for 2023, 58 for 2022, 82 for 2021 and 96 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 215 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 215 in 2025 against 234 in 2024, down 8.1 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 151 arrests, against 155 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Poweshiek County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Poweshiek 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 22 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 59 beds, and it ran at 37 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 Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office at poweshiekcountyiowa.gov/sheriff/dispatch_jailers (page title: Dispatch & Jailers | Sheriff | Poweshiek County, Iowa), 302 East Main Montezuma, IA 50171, 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 Poweshiek County
An arrest in Poweshiek County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Poweshiek 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 641-212-4232); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at poweshiekcountyiowa.gov/attorney, phone 641-623-5135).
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 Poweshiek 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 Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Grinnell: 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, 641-623-5135, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Poweshiek County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 641-212-4232.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Poweshiek County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the eight cities in Poweshiek County: Grinnell. Brooklyn, Montezuma, Malcom, Deep River, Searsboro, Hartwick and Guernsey 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 Poweshiek County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Poweshiek County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Grinnell (9,495)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Poweshiek County each year?
Grinnell reported 175 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 215 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Poweshiek County?
Ask the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at poweshiekcountyiowa.gov.
Where are people arrested in Poweshiek County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Poweshiek 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 Poweshiek County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Poweshiek 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 Poweshiek 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.