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 2, 2026.
Sioux County, Iowa, has about 37,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sioux County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Sioux 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: Sioux County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sioux County
The Sioux County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sioux County. It reported 211 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Sioux County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Sioux Center, 8,675 residents: 118 arrests reported for 2025.
- Orange City, 6,547 residents: 33 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rock Valley, 4,024 residents: 38 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hawarden, 2,630 residents: 22 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 Sheldon Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Sioux County, so its arrests are not broken out for Sioux County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Sioux 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.
- Sioux County Sheriff's Office: 211 for 2025, 222 for 2024, 212 for 2023, 171 for 2022, 179 for 2021 and 186 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Sioux Center: 118 for 2025, 96 for 2024, 103 for 2023, 94 for 2022, 104 for 2021 and 55 for 2020.
- Rock Valley: 38 for 2025, 38 for 2024, 48 for 2023, 46 for 2022 and 67 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- Orange City: 33 for 2025, 0 for 2024 and 0 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Hawarden: 22 for 2025, 23 for 2024 and 13 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 422 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 422 in 2025 against 379 in 2024, up 11 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 255 arrests, against 269 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sioux County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Sioux 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 30 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 67 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Sioux County Sheriff's Office at siouxcountysheriff.com/jail-information (page title: Jail Information | Sioux County Sheriff), phone 712-737-3131, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Sioux County
For Sioux County the place to look is the case index of the Iowa District Court for Sioux 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-3/distr..., phone 712-737-2286).
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 Sioux 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 Sioux County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 712-737-3131.
- An arrest in Sioux Center, Orange City, Rock Valley or Hawarden: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 712-737-2286.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Sioux County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the 13 cities in Sioux County: Sioux Center, Orange City, Rock Valley and Hawarden. Hull, Alton, Hospers, Boyden, Ireton, Granville, Maurice, Matlock and Chatsworth 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 Sioux County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Sioux County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Sioux Center (8,675)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sioux County each year?
The Sioux County Sheriff's Office reported 211 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 422 between them.
Where are people arrested in Sioux County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sioux County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sioux 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 Sioux County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sioux 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 Sioux 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.