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 October 2, 2026.
Zion, Illinois, in Lake County, has about 25,000 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 Lake 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: Zion public records, Lake County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Zion
The FBI lists Zion with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Zion Police Department. It reported 554 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 656 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lake County: the College of Lake County (campus police); Lake County Forest Preserve, the Round Lake Park District and the Zion Park District (other).
How Many Arrests Zion 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.
- Zion: 554 for 2025, 357 for 2024, 326 for 2023 and 305 for 2022.
Zion's 554 arrests in 2025 were up 55 percent from 357 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Zion reported 433 arrests, against 285 in the same months of 2025.
Across Lake County, the 31 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,816 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Zion Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Zion 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 510 people, down from about 630 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 740 beds, and it ran at 85 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 Lake County Sheriff's Office at lakecountyil.gov/2031/Inmate-Information (page title: Inmate Information | Lake County, IL), 29 S Martin Luther King Jr Avenue, Waukegan, IL 60085, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 429), so open it in a browser.
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 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 Zion
An arrest in Zion can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Lake County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Circuit Court of Lake County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ilsos.gov/departments/archives/databases/lake.html, phone 815-753-1807).
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 Zion
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 Zion police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofzion.com/online-reporting (page title: Online Reporting | City Of Zion.com), phone (847) 872-8000, 2828 Sheridan Road Zion, IL 60099, Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lake County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Lake County, through the court records page at ilsos.gov, phone 815-753-1807.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The Lake County guide covers every agency in the county: Lake County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Zion each year?
Zion reported 554 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Zion booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lake County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Zion?
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 Zion?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Zion police for its own arrests, the Lake 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 Zion 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.