Reviewed and updated October 11, 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 25, 2026 and October 11, 2026.
Mattoon, Illinois, in Coles County, has about 17,000 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 Mattoon is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Mattoon public records, Coles County criminal records, Mattoon arrest records, Mattoon warrants, Mattoon inmate search, Mattoon court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court of Coles County
In Illinois the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Mattoon are heard by the Circuit Court of Coles 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 circuitclerk.colesco.illinois.gov (page title: Coles County Circuit Clerk (IL)), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 11, 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 Mattoon
The Coles County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Mattoon (filed by the FBI as Mattoon Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Mattoon: 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 Coles County: Eastern Illinois University and Lake Land College (campus police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the three agencies in Coles County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 928 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 Mattoon arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Mattoon in 2025
The agency that reports for Mattoon had 75 violent and 199 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 State's Attorney for Coles County
Charges in Coles County are filed by the State's Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Circuit Court of Coles County.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at colesco.illinois.gov/jobs/assistant-states-attorney (page title: Assistant State's Attorney), phone (217) 348-0561, 651 Jackson Ave., Room 330 Charleston, IL 61920, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 2, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Mattoon
Registered sex offenders living in Mattoon 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 Coles 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 colesco.illinois.gov/foia (page title: Coles County | FOIA).
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Coles County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Coles County and Illinois. These criminal records pages from its Coles County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Most Wanted (colesco.illinois.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Mattoon criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at circuitclerk.colesco.illinois.gov (page title: Coles County Circuit Clerk (IL)).
How do I get my own Illinois criminal history?
Through a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Who prosecutes crimes in Mattoon?
The State's Attorney, reached at (217) 348-0561, which files its cases in the Circuit Court of Coles County.
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.