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 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Decatur, Illinois, in Macon County, has about 69,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Decatur is held at the county jail, run by the Macon County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Decatur public records, Macon County inmate search, Decatur arrest records, Decatur warrants, Decatur criminal records, Decatur court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Decatur
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Decatur is held at the county jail, run by the Macon County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Macon County Sheriff's Office at sheriff-macon-il.us/corrections (page title: Corrections | Macon County Sheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster.
The Macon County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 320 people, up from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 425 beds, and it ran at 76 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Macon County has about 101,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 32 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Macon County Jail
The Macon County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Decatur (filed by the FBI as Decatur Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Decatur.
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).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Decatur's 4,029 for 2025, the Macon County Sheriff's Office's 681 for 2024 and Mount Zion's 124 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Macon County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,153 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Decatur arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Illinois Department of Corrections lists its inmates at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Decatur?
Ask the Macon County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff-macon-il.us/corrections.
How many people are in the Macon County jail?
About 320 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 425 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Macon County go?
To a facility of the Illinois Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
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.