Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 October 4, 2026.
Elgin, Illinois, in Kane County, has about 115,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Circuit Court of Kane County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Elgin public records, Kane County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Elgin
The FBI lists Elgin with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Elgin Police Department. It reported 2,162 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Kane County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 940 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Kane County: Aurora University, Waubonsee Community College and Elgin Community College (campus police); Kane County Forest Preserve and the Fox Valley Park District (other).
How Many Arrests Elgin Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Elgin: 2,162 for 2025, 1,768 for 2024 and 1,355 for 2023.
Elgin's 2,162 arrests in 2025 were up 22 percent from 1,768 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Elgin reported 528 arrests, against 592 in the same months of 2025.
Across Kane County, the 19 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,151 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Elgin Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Elgin 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 2023 the jail held about 340 people, down from about 510 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 640 beds, and it ran at 53 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 Kane County Sheriff's Office at kanesheriff.com/Pages/Detainee-Search.aspx (page title: Detainee Search), phone 630-232-6840, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Illinois Department of Corrections lists its inmates at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Elgin
Whether someone was arrested in Elgin, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Kane County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Circuit Court of Kane County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at cic.countyofkane.org/pages/online-court-records.aspx); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sao.kanecountyil.gov, phone (630) 232-3500).
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. 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 Elgin
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 Illinois Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, with one 5-day extension, and it may charge copying only after the first 50 pages.
- An arrest by the Elgin police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at elginil.gov/290/Records (page title: Records Division | City of Elgin, Illinois), phone 847-289-2575, 151 Douglas Avenue Elgin, IL 60120, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Kane County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 630-232-6840.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (630) 232-3500, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Kane County, through the court records page at cic.countyofkane.org.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kanecountyil.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The Kane County guide covers every agency in the county: Kane County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Elgin each year?
Elgin reported 2,162 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Elgin?
Look on the custody page of the Kane County Sheriff's Office at kanesheriff.com/Pages/Detainee-Search.aspx, or call 630-232-6840. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Elgin booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kane County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Elgin?
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.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Elgin?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Elgin police for its own arrests, the Kane County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 business days, with one 5-day extension; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kanecountyil.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Elgin 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.