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 September 23, 2026.
Fayette County, Illinois, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Fayette 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 Fayette 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: Fayette County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Fayette County
The Fayette County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Fayette County. It reported 81 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Vandalia, 7,358 residents: 51 arrests reported for 2025.
- St. Elmo, 1,243 residents: 39 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ramsey, 895 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Farina, 531 residents: 30 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 Fayette 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.
- Ramsey: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Fayette County Sheriff's Office: 81 for 2025, 130 for 2024, 100 for 2023 and 87 for 2022.
- Vandalia: 51 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 20 for 2023, 0 for 2022 and 0 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- St. Elmo: 39 for 2025, 66 for 2024, 27 for 2022 and 0 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Farina: 30 for 2025 and 19 for 2024.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,353 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,353 in 2025 against 1,367 in 2024, down 1 percent.
Through June 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 589 arrests, against 635 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fayette County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fayette 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 39 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 70 beds, and it ran at 56 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Fayette County
An arrest in Fayette County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Fayette County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fayettecountyillinois.gov/county-offices/circuit-clerk, phone 290 921 2267); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fayettecountyillinois.gov/county-offices/states-attorney, phone 618-283-5040).
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 Fayette 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 Fayette County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Vandalia, St. Elmo, Ramsey or Farina: 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, 618-283-5040, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Fayette County, through the court records page at fayettecountyillinois.gov, phone 290 921 2267.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Fayette County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the seven cities in Fayette County: Vandalia, St. Elmo, Ramsey and Farina. Brownstown, St. Peter and Bingham 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 Fayette County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fayette County each year?
Ramsey reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,353 between them.
Where are people arrested in Fayette County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fayette 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 Fayette County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fayette 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 Fayette 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.