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 4, 2026.
Bureau County, Illinois, has about 32,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bureau County is held at the county jail, run by the Bureau County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Bureau County public records, Bureau County arrest records, Bureau County warrants, Bureau County criminal records, Bureau County court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Bureau County
The county jail, run by the Bureau County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Bureau County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Bureau County Sheriff's Office at bureaucounty-il.gov/sheriffs-department-directory (page title: Sheriff’s Department Directory | Bureau County, Illinois), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster.
The Bureau County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 25 people, up from about 22 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 34 beds, and it ran at 65 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Bureau County has about 32,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 8 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Bureau County Jail
The Bureau County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Princeton, Spring Valley, De Pue, Ladd, Walnut, La Moille and four more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in Bureau County.
The Peru Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Bureau County, so its arrests are not broken out for Bureau County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were De Pue's 1,152 for 2025, Walnut's 1,152 for 2025 and La Moille's 1,152 for 2025.
Together, the ten agencies in Bureau County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,885 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Bureau County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Illinois Department of Corrections lists its inmates at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Bureau County?
Ask the Bureau County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bureaucounty-il.gov.
How many people are in the Bureau County jail?
About 25 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 34 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Bureau County go?
To a facility of the Illinois Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
Is this the official Bureau 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.