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.
Ottawa, Illinois, in LaSalle County, has about 19,000 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 LaSalle 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: Ottawa public records, LaSalle County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ottawa
The FBI lists Ottawa with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ottawa Police Department. It reported 618 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 La Salle County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 240 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in LaSalle County: Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team (other).
How Many Arrests Ottawa Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Ottawa: 618 for 2025, 514 for 2024, 610 for 2023 and 397 for 2022.
Ottawa's 618 arrests in 2025 were up 20 percent from 514 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Ottawa reported 435 arrests, against 484 in the same months of 2025.
Across LaSalle County, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,788 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ottawa Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ottawa 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 2019 the jail held about 110 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 306 beds, and it ran at 37 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 La Salle County Sheriff's Office at lasalleso.com/inmateSearch (page title: LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Office (LA)), 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 Ottawa
Whether someone was arrested in Ottawa, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the La Salle County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lasallecountyil.gov/m/directory/department?did=30, phone 815-434-8340).
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 Ottawa
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 Ottawa police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofottawa.org/FormCenter/Police-Department-9 (page title: Form Center, Police Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the La Salle County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 815-434-8340, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lasallecounty.com (page title: FOIA/Public Records).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The LaSalle County guide covers every agency in the county: LaSalle County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ottawa each year?
Ottawa reported 618 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ottawa?
Look on the custody page of the La Salle County Sheriff's Office at lasalleso.com/inmateSearch. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Ottawa booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the La Salle County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ottawa?
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 Ottawa?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ottawa police for its own arrests, the La Salle 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 lasallecounty.com.
Is this the official Ottawa 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.