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.
Scott County, Iowa, has about 176,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Scott County Sheriff's Office and eight 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 Scott 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: Scott County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Scott County
The Scott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Scott County. It reported 2,033 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists eight cities in Scott County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Davenport, 100,938 residents: 5,778 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bettendorf, 40,281 residents: 1,031 arrests reported for 2025.
- Eldridge, 6,967 residents: 158 arrests reported for 2025.
- Le Claire, 4,776 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
- Blue Grass, 1,707 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Walcott, 1,556 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
- Buffalo, 1,163 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
- Princeton, 917 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 Durant Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Scott County, so its arrests are not broken out for Scott County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Scott 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.
- Davenport: 5,778 for 2025, 5,754 for 2024, 4,971 for 2023, 3,934 for 2022, 3,523 for 2021 and 3,361 for 2020.
- Scott County Sheriff's Office: 2,033 for 2025, 2,341 for 2024, 2,135 for 2023, 1,811 for 2022, 1,196 for 2021 and 1,963 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Bettendorf: 1,031 for 2025, 1,102 for 2024, 1,150 for 2023, 947 for 2022, 991 for 2021 and 710 for 2020.
- Eldridge: 158 for 2025, 104 for 2024, 109 for 2023, 105 for 2022, 110 for 2021 and 108 for 2020.
- Buffalo: 1 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 6 for 2023, 15 for 2022 and 36 for 2021.
- Walcott: 1 for 2025, 4 for 2024, 7 for 2023, 9 for 2022 and 15 for 2021.
- Le Claire: 1 for 2025, 4 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 8 for 2022, 1 for 2021 and 34 for 2020.
- Princeton: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024 and 0 for 2023.
- Blue Grass: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023 and 8 for 2022.
Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,003 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 9,003 in 2025 against 9,318 in 2024, down 3.4 percent.
Through August 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 5,411 arrests, against 5,633 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Scott County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Scott 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 2023 the jail held about 320 people, down from about 320 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 380 beds, and it ran at 83 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountyiowa.gov/sheriff/inmates (page title: Inmate Listing | Scott County Iowa), phone 563-326-8625, 400 W. 4th St. Davenport, IA 52801-1104, Monday to Friday: 8:00am - 4:30pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Scott County
An arrest in Scott County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Iowa District Court for Scott County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountyiowa.gov/courts/clerk-court, phone 563-326-8647); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at scottcountyiowa.gov/attorney/general-information, phone 563-326-8600).
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 Scott 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 563-326-8625.
- An arrest in Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge, Le Claire, Blue Grass, Walcott or another of the cities listed above: 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, 563-326-8600, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Scott County, through the court records page at scottcountyiowa.gov/courts/clerk-court, phone 563-326-8647.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountyiowa.gov/secc/open-records-request (page title: SECC Open Records Request | Scott County Iowa).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Scott County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for eight of the 16 cities in Scott County: Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge, Le Claire, Blue Grass, Walcott, Buffalo and Princeton. Long Grove, Riverdale, Donahue, McCausland, Dixon, Maysville, Panorama Park and New Liberty 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 Scott County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Scott County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Davenport (100,938)
- Bettendorf (40,281)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Scott County each year?
Davenport reported 5,778 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 9,003 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Scott County?
Look on the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountyiowa.gov/sheriff/inmates, or call 563-326-8625. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Scott County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Scott 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 Scott County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Scott 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 scottcountyiowa.gov/secc/open-records-request.
Is this the official Scott 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.