Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 9, 2026.
Adams County, Illinois, has about 64,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Adams County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one campus agency. An arrest 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 Adams County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Adams County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Adams County
The Adams County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Adams County. It reported 237 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Quincy, 38,786 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
- Camp Point, 1,117 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Adams County: John Wood Community College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Adams County
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.
- Camp Point: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Adams County Sheriff's Office: 237 for 2025, 257 for 2024, 246 for 2023, 218 for 2022 and 155 for 2021.
- Quincy: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,389 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,389 in 2025 against 1,409 in 2024, down 1.4 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 785 arrests, against 925 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Adams County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Adams County 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 2023 the jail held about 120 people, up from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 194 beds, and it ran at 61 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Adams County Sheriff's Office at adamscosheriff.net/portal/Jail?hours=24 (page title: Inmates | ISOMS Portal), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
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 Adams County
For Adams County the place to look is the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at adamscountyil.gov/government/departments/state-s-attorney, phone 217-277-2225).
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 Adams County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Adams County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Quincy or Camp Point: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by John Wood Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 217-277-2225, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at adamscountyil.gov (page title: FOIA | Adams County, IL).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The other Adams County guides go further: police reports and property records.
Cities in Adams County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the 14 cities in Adams County: Quincy and Camp Point. Payson, Mendon, Golden, Clayton, Ursa, Liberty, Loraine, Plainville, Coatsburg, Lima, Columbus and La Prairie have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Circuit Court of Adams County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Adams County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Quincy (38,786)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Adams County each year?
Camp Point reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,389 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Adams County?
Ask the Adams County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at adamscosheriff.net/portal/Jail?hours=24.
Where are people arrested in Adams County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Adams County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Adams County?
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 Adams County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Adams County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 adamscountyil.gov.
Is this the official Adams County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.