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 9, 2026.
Edwards County, Illinois, has about 6,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Edwards County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Edwards 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: Edwards County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Edwards County
The Edwards County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Edwards County. It reported 7 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Edwards County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Albion, 1,868 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Salem, 745 residents: 1,152 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 Grayville Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Edwards County, so its arrests are not broken out for Edwards County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Edwards 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.
- West Salem: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Edwards County Sheriff's Office: 7 for 2025, 13 for 2024 and 52 for 2023.
- Albion: 5 for 2025 and 10 for 2024.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,164 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,164 in 2025 against 1,175 in 2024, down 0.9 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Edwards County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Edwards County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 12 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 15 beds, and it ran at 83 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 Edwards County Sheriff's Office at ilsheriff.org/county/edwards (page title: Edwards County | Illinois Sheriffs' Association), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Edwards County
An arrest in Edwards County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Edwards County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at judici.com/courts/cases/case_search.jsp?court=IL024015J); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at edwardscircuitclerk.com/edwards-county-bar-association-attorneys, phone (618) 445-3676).
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 Edwards 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 Edwards County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Albion or West Salem: 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, (618) 445-3676, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Edwards County, through the court records page at judici.com.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The other Edwards County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Edwards County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Edwards County: Albion and West Salem. Bone Gap and Browns 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 Edwards County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Edwards County each year?
West Salem reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,164 between them.
Where are people arrested in Edwards County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Edwards County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Edwards 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 Edwards County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Edwards 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 Edwards 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.