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 September 30, 2026.
Tama County, Iowa, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Tama 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 Tama 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: Tama County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Tama County
The Tama County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Tama County. It reported 192 arrests for 2025.
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:
- Tama, 2,997 residents: 74 arrests reported for 2020.
- Toledo, 2,372 residents: 46 arrests reported for 2020.
- Dysart, 1,266 residents: 3 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 Tama 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.
- Tama County Sheriff's Office: 192 for 2025, 178 for 2024, 211 for 2023, 213 for 2022, 149 for 2021 and 159 for 2020.
- Dysart: 3 for 2025, 5 for 2024, 4 for 2023 and 7 for 2022.
- Tama: 74 for 2020 and 108 for 2019.
- Toledo: 46 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 195 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 195 in 2025 against 183 in 2024, up 6.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 91 arrests, against 100 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Tama County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Tama 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 2019 the jail held about 18 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 18 beds, and it ran at 100 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 Tama County Sheriff's Office at tamacountysheriff.org/jail/inmates (page title: Inmates | Tama County Sheriff's Office, Iowa), phone 641-484-4111, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Iowa Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.iowa.gov/inmate-family-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Tama County
An arrest in Tama County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: Iowa Courts Online, the Iowa Judicial Branch's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at tamacounty.iowa.gov/attorney, phone 641-484-3020).
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 Tama 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 Tama County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 641-484-4111.
- An arrest in Tama, Toledo or Dysart: 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, 641-484-3020, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Tama County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 12 cities in Tama County: Tama, Toledo and Dysart. Traer, Gladbrook, Garwin, Clutier, Chelsea, Montour, Elberon, Lincoln and Vining 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 Tama County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Tama County each year?
The Tama County Sheriff's Office reported 192 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 195 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Tama County?
Ask the Tama County Sheriff's Office at 641-484-4111; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at tamacountysheriff.org/jail/inmates.
Where are people arrested in Tama County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Tama County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Tama 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 Tama County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Tama 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 Tama 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.