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 25, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Mattoon, Illinois, in Coles County, has about 17,000 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 Coles 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: Mattoon public records, Coles County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Mattoon
The FBI lists Mattoon with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Mattoon Police Department. It reported 588 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 Coles County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 45 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Coles County: Eastern Illinois University and Lake Land College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Mattoon 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.
- Mattoon: 588 for 2025 and 567 for 2024.
Mattoon's 588 arrests in 2025 were up 3.7 percent from 567 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Mattoon reported 425 arrests, against 414 in the same months of 2025.
Across Coles County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 928 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mattoon Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mattoon 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 62 people, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 160 beds, and it ran at 79 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 Coles County Sheriff's Office at colesco.illinois.gov/sheriff/corrections (page title: Corrections), phone (217) 348-7332, Tuesday 9:00AM - 11:00AM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 2, 2026.
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 Mattoon
For Mattoon the place to look is the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at colesco.illinois.gov/jobs/assistant-states-attorney, phone (217) 348-0561).
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 Mattoon
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 Mattoon police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at mattoon.illinois.gov/government/police-department (page title: Police Department | City of Mattoon, Illinois), phone 217-235-5451, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Coles County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (217) 348-7332.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (217) 348-0561, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at colesco.illinois.gov/foia (page title: Coles County | FOIA).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The Coles County guide covers every agency in the county: Coles County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mattoon each year?
Mattoon reported 588 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mattoon?
Ask the Coles County Sheriff's Office at (217) 348-7332; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at colesco.illinois.gov/sheriff/corrections.
Where are people arrested in Mattoon booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Coles County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mattoon?
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 Mattoon?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mattoon police for its own arrests, the Coles 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 colesco.illinois.gov/foia.
Is this the official Mattoon 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.