SearchSystems Editorial

Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.

About this guide

Decatur, Illinois, in Macon County, has about 69,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Illinois the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Illinois State Police is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Decatur is kept and how it is seen.

This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.

Related guides: Decatur public records, Macon County criminal records, Decatur arrest records, Decatur warrants, Decatur inmate search, Decatur court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.

Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court of Macon County

A criminal case from Decatur is filed in the Circuit Court of Macon County, and the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk, is the record of it that the public may see.

For Macon County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at apps.ilsos.gov/isairad/maconsrch.jsp (page title: Macon County Circuit Court Case Files Index, 1829-1861), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.

Illinois has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.

The Illinois Criminal History and Your Own Copy

Illinois is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: conviction information is public under the Uniform Conviction Information Act, through the Illinois State Police. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.

To see your own record, the route is a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at isp.illinois.gov/BureauOfIdentification/MyRecord.

Arrest Records Kept Locally in Decatur

The Macon County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Decatur (filed by the FBI as Decatur Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Decatur: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.

The FBI's agency list also places two other agencies and two campus police departments in Macon County (the arrest records guide names each one); each keeps the records of its own arrests.

Together, the three agencies in Macon County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,153 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.

The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Decatur arrest records.

The Crimes Behind the Records: Decatur in 2025

The agency that reports for Decatur had 465 violent and 1,788 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.

The State's Attorney for Macon County

Charges in Macon County are filed by the State's Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Circuit Court of Macon County.

The office's page SearchSystems verified is at maconcounty.illinois.gov/departments/states-attorney (page title: State's Attorney | Macon County, Illinois), phone (217) 624-4312, 253 East Wood Street Decatur, IL 62523, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.

The Sex Offender Registry for Decatur

Registered sex offenders living in Decatur are listed on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, run by the Illinois State Police at illinois.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.

Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.

Asking an Agency in Macon County for a Record

An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.

Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, with one 5-day extension, and it may charge copying only after the first 50 pages.

More Official Criminal Records Pages for Macon County

The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Macon County and Illinois. These criminal records pages from its Macon County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:

Frequently Asked Questions

Are criminal records public in Decatur?

The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Illinois State Police: conviction information is public under the Uniform Conviction Information Act. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Can I search Decatur criminal cases online?

The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at apps.ilsos.gov/isairad/maconsrch.jsp (page title: Macon County Circuit Court Case Files Index, 1829-1861).

How do I get my own Illinois criminal history?

Through a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.

Who prosecutes crimes in Decatur?

The State's Attorney, reached at (217) 624-4312, which files its cases in the Circuit Court of Macon County.

Is this the official Decatur website?

No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.