Sheriff Department

     Buchanan County is 568 square miles and has a population of approximately 21,900.  Within the county are eleven incorporated cities and two unincorporated towns, six major parks, 21 nature areas and 5 river accesses with the Wapsipinicon River running straight through our county.  

     The earliest history information for the Sheriff's Office dates back to 1902 when the law enforcement for the county consisted of the sheriff and one deputy.  Their office was a room located in the old courthouse.  In 1939 Buchanan County built the existing courthouse where the Sheriff, his deputy and a clerk had a small one-room office.  As time passed the number of deputies increased to keep up with the need to fight crime.   

     In 1976 the Sheriff's Office moved to the Buchanan - Independence Public Safety Center which is attached to the north side of the courthouse. 

     The Sheriff's Office provides police protection for eight of the eleven incorporated communities. The communities are Aurora, Brandon, Hazleton, Lamont, Quasqueton, Rowley, Stanley and Winthrop.  The three remaining towns, Fairbank, Independence and Jesup have their own law enforcement. 

     Buchanan County is a member of the Rural Area Interdiction Detail (R.A.I.D), a multi- jurisdictional drug and crime task force.  The Task Force, which operated out of Buchanan County, also includes the Benton, Delaware and Fayette County Sheriff's Offices and the Independence and Oelwein Police Departments.  The Sheriff's Office has three D.E.A. certified Clandestine Lab investigators.  Staff are 13 deputies including the Sheriff, Administrative Office Secretary and Civil Office Deputy

     The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office communications is operated out of the county wide Buchanan-Independence Public Safety Center.  The communications center provides dispatch services for police departments in Fairbank, Independence and Jesup along with the Buchanan County Health Center.  Dispatch services are also provided to 10 of the 12 fire departments in the county.   In 200 the communications section of dispatch was revamped to included enhanced 911, computer aided dispatch, radio system upgrades, weather radar, and fire /ambulance paging.