Douglas County Arrest Records: Who Makes Arrests, Where People Are Booked and How to Get the Report

Who Makes Arrests in Douglas County

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Douglas County. It reported 0 arrests for 2019, its latest complete year.

The FBI lists five cities in Douglas County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:

• Tuscola, 4,658 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2025.
• Arcola, 2,915 residents: 82 arrests reported for 2025.
• Villa Grove, 2,450 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
• Arthur, 2,269 residents: 46 arrests reported for 2025.
• Newman, 773 residents: 2 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 Atwood Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Douglas County, so its arrests are not broken out for Douglas County here.

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Douglas 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.

• Villa Grove: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
• Arcola: 82 for 2025 and 83 for 2024.
• Arthur: 46 for 2025, 45 for 2024, 39 for 2023, 41 for 2022, 24 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
• Tuscola: 26 for 2025, 45 for 2024, 72 for 2023, 39 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
• Newman: 2 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 4 for 2023 and 4 for 2022.
• Douglas County Sheriff's Office: 0 for 2019.

Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,308 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,308 in 2025 against 1,328 in 2024, down 1.5 percent.

Through August 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 740 arrests, against 876 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Douglas County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Douglas 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 2024 the jail held about 19 people, down from about 39 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 38 beds, and it ran at 103 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 Douglas County Sheriff's Office at dgso.org/index.php/dgso-inmate-reports (page title: DGSO Inmate Reports), 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 Douglas County

An arrest in Douglas County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Douglas County, kept by the Circuit Clerk, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at douglascountyil.gov/states-attorney, phone 217-253-5471).

The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at illinoiscourts.gov/courts-directory/6/Douglas-County-Courthouse/court (page title: Douglas County Courthouse | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts), phone (217) 253-2352, belongs to a lower court, not to the Circuit Court of Douglas County.

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 Douglas 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 Douglas County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
• An arrest in Tuscola, Arcola, Villa Grove, Arthur or Newman: 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, 217-253-5471, handles discovery for pending cases.
• The court file of a case that was filed: in the Circuit Court of Douglas County it is kept by the Circuit Clerk. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at illinoiscourts.gov, phone (217) 253-2352, is a lower court's.
• Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at douglascountyil.gov/foia (page title: FOIA | <!-- -->Douglas County, IL).
• Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.

The other Douglas County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI and property records.

Cities in Douglas County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the eight cities in Douglas County: Tuscola, Arcola, Villa Grove, Arthur and Newman. Camargo, Hindsboro and Garrett 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 Douglas County.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Douglas County each year?

Villa Grove reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,308 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Douglas County?

Ask the Douglas County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dgso.org/index.php/dgso-inmate-reports.

Where are people arrested in Douglas County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Douglas 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 Douglas County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Douglas 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 douglascountyil.gov/foia.

Is this the official Douglas 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.