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.
Van Buren County, Iowa, has about 7,200 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office. 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 Van Buren 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: Van Buren County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Van Buren County
The Van Buren County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Van Buren County. It reported 103 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Van Buren County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Van Buren County Sheriff's Office: 103 for 2025, 86 for 2023, 68 for 2022, 67 for 2021, 77 for 2020 and 98 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Through August 2026, Van Buren County Sheriff's Office reported 58 arrests, against 79 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Van Buren County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Van Buren 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 5 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 10 beds, and it ran at 50 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Van Buren County
An arrest in Van Buren County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Van Buren 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 319-528-5009); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at vanburencounty.iowa.gov/offices/administrative/attorney.php, phone (319) 293-3409).
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 Van Buren 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 Van Buren County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (319) 293-3409, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Van Buren County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 319-528-5009.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ia.iowadot.gov/openrecords (page title: Open Records Request | FOIA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Van Buren County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Van Buren County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
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 Van Buren County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Van Buren County each year?
The Van Buren County Sheriff's Office reported 103 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Van Buren County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Van Buren 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 ia.iowadot.gov/openrecords.
Is this the official Van Buren 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.