Reviewed and updated October 9, 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 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Washington, Illinois, in Tazewell County, has about 16,000 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 Washington 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Washington public records, Tazewell County criminal records, Washington arrest records, Washington warrants, Washington inmate search, Washington court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court of Tazewell County
In Illinois the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Washington are heard by the Circuit Court of Tazewell County, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate, traffic and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Clerk.
For Tazewell County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at tazewell-il.gov/courts (page title: Courts | Tazewell County), phone 309-477-2201, 342 Court Street Pekin, IL 61554, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Washington
The Tazewell County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Washington (filed by the FBI as Washington Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Washington: 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 Tazewell County: Illinois Central College (campus police); the Pekin Park District and the Fon du Lac Park District (other agency); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Goodfield Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Tazewell County, so its arrests are not broken out for Tazewell County here.
Together, the 13 agencies in Tazewell County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,540 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 Washington arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Washington in 2025
The agency that reports for Washington had 14 violent and 219 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 Tazewell County
The State's Attorney decides which arrests in Tazewell County become charges and files them in the Circuit Court of Tazewell County; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at tazewell-il.gov/statesattorney/statesattorneyaboutus (page title: State's Attorney About Us | Tazewell County, Illinois), phone 309-477-2294, 334 Elizabeth St. Pekin, IL 61554, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Washington
Registered sex offenders living in Washington 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 Tazewell 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Washington?
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 Washington criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at tazewell-il.gov/courts (page title: Courts | Tazewell County).
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 Washington?
The State's Attorney, reached at 309-477-2294, which files its cases in the Circuit Court of Tazewell County.
Is this the official Washington 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.