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 1, 2026.
Effingham County, Illinois, has about 35,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Effingham County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Effingham 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: Effingham County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Effingham County
The Effingham County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Effingham County. It reported 212 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Effingham County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Effingham, 12,434 residents: 566 arrests reported for 2025.
- Altamont, 2,200 residents: 22 arrests reported for 2025.
- Teutopolis, 1,694 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Effingham 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.
- Teutopolis: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Effingham: 566 for 2025, 588 for 2024, 450 for 2023 and 654 for 2022.
- Effingham County Sheriff's Office: 212 for 2025, 125 for 2024, 208 for 2023 and 273 for 2022.
- Altamont: 22 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 31 for 2023, 38 for 2022, 38 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,952 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,952 in 2025 against 1,887 in 2024, up 3.4 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,354 arrests, against 1,217 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Effingham County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Effingham 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 51 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 63 beds, and it ran at 81 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 Effingham County Sheriff's Office at inmates.bluhorse.com/Default.aspx?ID=ECJ (page title: Jail Management), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 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 Effingham County
Whether someone was arrested in Effingham County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court of Effingham County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at effinghamcountyil.gov/circuit-clerk/criminal-court, phone 217-342-4065); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at effinghamcountyil.gov/states-attorney, phone (217)347-7741).
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 Effingham 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 Effingham County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Effingham, Altamont or Teutopolis: 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)347-7741, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Effingham County, through the court records page at effinghamcountyil.gov, phone 217-342-4065.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Effingham County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the ten cities in Effingham County: Effingham, Altamont and Teutopolis. Dieterich, Watson, Beecher City, Edgewood, Mason, Montrose and Shumway 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 Effingham County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Effingham County each year?
Teutopolis reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,952 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Effingham County?
Ask the Effingham County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at inmates.bluhorse.com/Default.aspx?ID=ECJ.
Where are people arrested in Effingham County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Effingham County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Effingham 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 Effingham County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Effingham 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 Effingham 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.