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.
Joliet, Illinois, in Will County, has about 152,000 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 Will 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: Joliet public records, Will County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Joliet
The FBI lists Joliet with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Joliet Police Department. It reported 1,975 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 Will County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 978 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Will County: Governors State University, Joliet Junior College and Lewis University (campus police); Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway, Will County Forest Preserve and the Lockport Township Park District (other).
How Many Arrests Joliet 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.
- Joliet: 1,975 for 2025, 1,407 for 2024, 1,396 for 2023 and 2,111 for 2022.
Joliet's 1,975 arrests in 2025 were up 40 percent from 1,407 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Joliet reported 1,199 arrests, against 1,307 in the same months of 2025.
Across Will County, the 24 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,010 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Joliet Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Joliet and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 600 people, down from about 690 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 909 beds, and it ran at 76 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Will County Sheriff's Office at willcosheriff.org/component/search/?searchword=Facility (page title: Search | WC Sheriff's Office), phone (815) 727-8575, 16911 W. Laraway Rd, Suite 101, Joliet, IL 60433, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Joliet
An arrest in Joliet can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Will County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at circuitclerkofwillcounty.com/public-access); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at willcountysao.com).
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 Joliet
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Joliet police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at joliet.gov/government/departments/police-department/divisions/techn... (page title: Records | City of Joliet, IL), phone (815) 724-3100, 150 W Washington St, Joliet, IL 60432, Monday - Friday // 8:00am - 3:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Will County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (815) 727-8575.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Will County, through the court records page at circuitclerkofwillcounty.com/public-access.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at willcountyclerk.gov (page title: Will County, IL Elections).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The Will County guide covers every agency in the county: Will County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Joliet each year?
Joliet reported 1,975 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Joliet?
Ask the Will County Sheriff's Office at (815) 727-8575; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at willcosheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Joliet booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Will County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Joliet?
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 Joliet?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Joliet police for its own arrests, the Will 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 willcountyclerk.gov.
Is this the official Joliet 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.