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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
Cass County, Illinois, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cass County Sheriff's Office and four city agencies. 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 Cass 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: Cass County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cass County
The Cass County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cass County. It reported 0 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Cass County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Beardstown, 5,803 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
- Virginia, 1,470 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ashland, 1,188 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chandlerville, 519 residents: 0 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cass County
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.
- Virginia: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Cass County Sheriff's Office: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022 and 0 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Ashland: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Chandlerville: 0 for 2025.
- Beardstown: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,152 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,152 in 2025 against 1,152 in 2024.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 521 arrests, against 576 in the same months of 2025.
Beardstown reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cass County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Cass 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.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Cass County Sheriff's Office at co.cass.il.us/elected-officials/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Cass County Illinois), phone (217) 452-7718, 101 N. Front St. Virginia, IL 62691, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Illinois Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Cass County
Whether someone was arrested in Cass County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court of Cass County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.cass.il.us/elected-officials/circuit-court-clerk, phone (217) 452-7225); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.cass.il.us/elected-officials/states-attorney, phone (217) 452-7736).
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 Cass 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 Cass County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (217) 452-7718.
- An arrest in Beardstown, Virginia, Ashland or Chandlerville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (217) 452-7736, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Cass County, through the court records page at co.cass.il.us, phone (217) 452-7225.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Cass County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the five cities in Cass County: Beardstown, Virginia, Ashland and Chandlerville. Arenzville has 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 Cass County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cass County each year?
Virginia reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,152 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cass County?
Ask the Cass County Sheriff's Office at (217) 452-7718; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.cass.il.us/elected-officials/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Cass County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cass County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cass 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 Cass County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cass 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.
Is this the official Cass 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.