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 October 2, 2026.
Coles County, Illinois, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Coles County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and two campus 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 Coles 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: Coles County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Coles County
The Coles County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Coles County. It reported 45 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Coles County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Charleston, 17,361 residents: 295 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mattoon, 16,602 residents: 588 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 these agencies in Coles County: Eastern Illinois University and Lake Land College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Coles 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.
- Mattoon: 588 for 2025 and 567 for 2024.
- Charleston: 295 for 2025 and 317 for 2024.
- Coles County Sheriff's Office: 45 for 2025, 11 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 928 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 928 in 2025 against 895 in 2024, up 3.7 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 586 arrests, against 559 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Coles County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Coles 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 62 people, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 160 beds, and it ran at 79 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 Coles County Sheriff's Office at colesco.illinois.gov/sheriff/corrections (page title: Corrections), phone (217) 348-7332, Tuesday 9:00AM - 11:00AM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 2, 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 Coles County
For Coles County the place to look is the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at colesco.illinois.gov/jobs/assistant-states-attorney, phone (217) 348-0561).
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 Coles County
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 Coles County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (217) 348-7332.
- An arrest in Charleston or Mattoon: 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 Eastern Illinois University or Lake Land 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) 348-0561, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at colesco.illinois.gov/foia (page title: Coles County | FOIA).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Coles County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the six cities in Coles County: Charleston and Mattoon. Oakland, Ashmore, Humboldt and Lerna 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 Coles County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Coles County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Mattoon (16,602)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Coles County each year?
Mattoon reported 588 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 928 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Coles County?
Ask the Coles County Sheriff's Office at (217) 348-7332; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at colesco.illinois.gov/sheriff/corrections.
Where are people arrested in Coles County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Coles County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Coles 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 Coles County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Coles 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 colesco.illinois.gov/foia.
Is this the official Coles 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.