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 2019. 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 October 1, 2026.
Waterloo, Illinois, in Monroe County, has about 11,000 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 Monroe 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: Waterloo public records, Monroe County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Waterloo
The FBI lists Waterloo with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Waterloo Police Department. It reported 0 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year. 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 164 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Waterloo 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.
- Waterloo: 0 for 2019.
Across Monroe County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 117 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Waterloo Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Waterloo 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 2024 the jail held about 11 people, down from about 35 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 42 beds, and it ran at 83 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Waterloo
For Waterloo the place to look is the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at monroecountyil.gov/departments/states-attorney, phone 618-939-8681).
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 Waterloo
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 Waterloo police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at waterloopd.org/forms (page title: Forms | Waterloo Police Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 2026.
- An arrest by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 618-939-8681, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The Monroe County guide covers every agency in the county: Monroe County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Waterloo each year?
Waterloo reported 0 arrests to the FBI for 2019, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Waterloo booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Waterloo?
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 Waterloo?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Waterloo police for its own arrests, the Monroe 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.
Is this the official Waterloo 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.