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 September 25, 2026.
Freeport, Illinois, in Stephenson County, has about 23,000 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 Stephenson 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: Freeport public records, Stephenson County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Freeport
The FBI lists Freeport with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Freeport Police Department. It reported 1,164 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 Stephenson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 310 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Stephenson County: the Freeport Park District (other).
How Many Arrests Freeport 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.
- Freeport: 1,164 for 2025, 1,158 for 2024, 912 for 2023 and 997 for 2022.
Freeport's 1,164 arrests in 2025 were up 0.5 percent from 1,158 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Freeport reported 747 arrests, against 786 in the same months of 2025.
Across Stephenson County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,468 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Freeport Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Freeport 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 2020 the jail held about 56 people, down from about 85 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 212 beds, and it ran at 40 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 Stephenson County Sheriff's Office at stephensoncountyil.gov/government/sheriff_s_office/jail_inmate_info... (page title: Stephenson County, IL), phone 815-235-8254, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Illinois Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Freeport
Whether someone was arrested in Freeport, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Circuit Court of Stephenson County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at stephensoncountyil.gov/government/circuit_clerk_and_court/index.php, phone 815-235-8266); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at stephensoncountyil.gov/government/state_s_attorney/index.php, phone 815-235-8279).
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 Freeport
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 Freeport police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityoffreeport.org/directory2/police-department (page title: Police Department | City of Freeport, Illinois), phone 815-235-8222, 320 West Exchange Street Freeport, IL 61032-4188, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 815-235-8254.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 815-235-8279, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Stephenson County, through the court records page at stephensoncountyil.gov, phone 815-235-8266.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The Stephenson County guide covers every agency in the county: Stephenson County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Freeport each year?
Freeport reported 1,164 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Freeport?
Look on the custody page of the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office at stephensoncountyil.gov, or call 815-235-8254. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Freeport booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Freeport?
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 Freeport?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Freeport police for its own arrests, the Stephenson 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.
Is this the official Freeport 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.