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 on September 23, 2026.
Boone County, Illinois, has about 53,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Boone County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Boone 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: Boone County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Boone County
The Boone County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Boone County. It reported 731 arrests for 2025.
One city in Boone County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Belvidere, 25,325 residents: 556 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 Cherry Valley Police Department and the Loves Park Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Boone County, so their arrests are not broken out for Boone County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Boone 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.
- Boone County Sheriff's Office: 731 for 2025, 547 for 2024 and 478 for 2023.
- Belvidere: 556 for 2025, 691 for 2024 and 706 for 2023.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,287 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,287 in 2025 against 1,238 in 2024, up 4 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 891 arrests, against 847 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Boone County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Boone 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 46 people, down from about 89 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 150 beds, and it ran at 59 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 Boone County
An arrest in Boone County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Boone County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at boonecircuitclerk.us/page/11/court-records, phone 815-544-0371); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at boonecountyil.gov/government/departments/state_s_attorney/index.php, phone 815.544.0868).
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 Boone 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 Boone County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Belvidere: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 815.544.0868, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Boone County, through the court records page at boonecircuitclerk.us/page/11/court-records, phone 815-544-0371.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at boonecountyil.nextrequest.com (page title: Boone County, IL Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Boone County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Boone County: Belvidere. Poplar Grove, Capron, Timberlane and Caledonia 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 Boone County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Boone County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Belvidere (25,325)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Boone County each year?
The Boone County Sheriff's Office reported 731 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,287 between them.
Where are people arrested in Boone County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Boone County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Boone 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 Boone County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Boone 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 boonecountyil.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Boone 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.