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.
Warren County, Iowa, has about 56,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Warren 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 Warren 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: Warren County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Warren County
The Warren County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Warren County. It reported 128 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:
- Indianola, 16,297 residents: 700 arrests reported for 2025.
- Norwalk, 15,396 residents: 127 arrests reported for 2025.
- Carlisle, 4,381 residents: 90 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 Des Moines Police Department and the West Des Moines Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Warren County, so their arrests are not broken out for Warren County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Warren 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.
- Indianola: 700 for 2025, 567 for 2024, 455 for 2023, 458 for 2022, 357 for 2021 and 461 for 2020.
- Warren County Sheriff's Office: 128 for 2025, 221 for 2024, 177 for 2023, 322 for 2020 and 420 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Norwalk: 127 for 2025, 131 for 2024, 147 for 2023, 117 for 2022, 107 for 2021 and 147 for 2020.
- Carlisle: 90 for 2025, 91 for 2024, 114 for 2023, 98 for 2022, 106 for 2021 and 99 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,045 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,045 in 2025 against 1,010 in 2024, up 3.5 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 251 arrests, against 245 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Warren County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Warren 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 2018 the jail held about 5 people. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Warren County
An arrest in Warren County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Iowa District Court for Warren 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-5/distr..., phone 515-690-9260); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at warrencountyia.gov/government/county-government/attorney, phone 515-690-9120).
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 Warren 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 Warren County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Indianola, Norwalk or Carlisle: 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, 515-690-9120, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Warren County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 515-690-9260.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Warren County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 13 cities in Warren County: Indianola, Norwalk and Carlisle. Milo, Hartford, Cumming, New Virginia, Martensdale, Lacona, Ackworth, St. Marys, Spring Hill and Sandyville 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 Warren County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Warren County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Warren County each year?
Indianola reported 700 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,045 between them.
Where are people arrested in Warren County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Warren County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Warren 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 Warren County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Warren 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 Warren 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.