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 26, 2026.
East Alton, Illinois, in Madison County, has about 5,600 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 East Alton is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: East Alton public records, Madison County criminal records, East Alton arrest records, East Alton warrants, East Alton inmate search, East Alton court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court of Madison County
In Illinois the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from East Alton are heard by the Circuit Court of Madison County, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate, traffic and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Clerk.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at madisoncountyil.gov/departments/circuit_clerk/court_records_search.php (page title: Madison County Illinois Circuit Clerk Records Search), phone (800) 250-9884, 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 East Alton
The Madison County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for East Alton (filed by the FBI as East Alton Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around East Alton: 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 these agencies in Madison County: Norfolk Southern Railway in Madison County and Terminal Railroad Association (other agency); Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (campus police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Pierron Police Department and the Fairmont City Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Madison County, so their arrests are not broken out for Madison County here.
Together, the 20 agencies in Madison County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 8,317 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 East Alton arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: East Alton in 2025
The agency that reports for East Alton had 19 violent and 74 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 Sex Offender Registry for East Alton
Registered sex offenders living in East Alton 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 Madison 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madisoncountyil.gov/departments/circuit_clerk/coppy_request.php (page title: Madison County Illinois Circuit Clerk Copy Requests).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in East Alton?
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 East Alton criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at madisoncountyil.gov (page title: Madison County Illinois Circuit Clerk Records Search).
How do I get my own Illinois criminal history?
Through a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Is this the official East Alton 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.