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.
Worth County, Iowa, has about 7,300 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Worth 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 Worth 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: Worth County public records, Iowa arrest records, Iowa inmate search and Iowa criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Worth County
The Worth County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Worth County. It reported 88 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Worth 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.
- Worth County Sheriff's Office: 88 for 2025, 75 for 2024, 110 for 2023, 106 for 2022, 150 for 2021 and 187 for 2020.
The Worth County Sheriff's Office's 88 arrests in 2025 were up 17 percent from 75 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Worth County Sheriff's Office reported 48 arrests, against 38 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Worth County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Worth 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 2021 the jail held about 2 people, down from about 5 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 9 beds, and it ran at 56 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 Worth County Sheriff's Office at worthcountyiowa.gov/sheriff/whos_in_jail (page title: Who's in Jail | Sheriff | Worth County, Iowa), phone 641-324-1741, 1000 Central Ave. Northwood, IA 50459, 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 Worth County
An arrest in Worth County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Worth County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Iowa District Court for Worth County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at worthcountyiowa.gov/courts, phone 641-324-1741); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at worthcountyiowa.gov/attorney, phone 641-324-1741).
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 Worth 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 Worth County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 641-324-1741.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 641-324-1741, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Worth County, through the court records page at worthcountyiowa.gov/courts, phone 641-324-1741.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Worth County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Worth 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 Worth County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Worth County each year?
The Worth County Sheriff's Office reported 88 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Worth County?
Look on the custody page of the Worth County Sheriff's Office at worthcountyiowa.gov/sheriff/whos_in_jail, or call 641-324-1741. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Worth County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Worth County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Worth 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 Worth County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Worth 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 Worth 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.