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 28, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Ford County, Illinois, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ford 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 Ford 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: Ford County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ford County
The Ford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ford County. It reported 56 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Ford County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Paxton, 4,402 residents: 102 arrests reported for 2023.
- Gibson City, 3,444 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Ford 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.
- Paxton: 102 for 2023.
- Ford County Sheriff's Office: 56 for 2025, 86 for 2024, 52 for 2023, 47 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Gibson City: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 154 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 52 in 2023 against 47 in 2022, up 11 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ford County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Ford 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 2024 the jail held about 34 people, up from about 30 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 61 beds, and it ran at 49 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 Ford County Sheriff's Office at fordcounty.illinois.gov/sheriff (page title: Ford County Jail and Sheriff's Office | Ford County Illinois), phone (217) 379-2324, 235 N. American Street Paxton, IL 60957, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Ford County
An arrest in Ford County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Ford County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.illinois.gov/find-your-next-court-date-in-ford-county); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fordcounty.illinois.gov/states-attorney, phone (217) 379-9460).
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 Ford 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 Ford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (217) 379-2324.
- An arrest in Paxton or Gibson City: 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) 379-9460, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Ford County, through the court records page at fordcounty.illinois.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Ford County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the nine cities in Ford County: Paxton and Gibson City. Piper City, Melvin, Roberts, Sibley, Elliott, Cabery and Kempton 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 Ford County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ford County each year?
Paxton reported 102 arrests to the FBI for 2023, and the two agencies with every month of 2023 on file reported 154 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ford County?
Ask the Ford County Sheriff's Office at (217) 379-2324; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at fordcounty.illinois.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Ford County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ford 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 Ford County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ford 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 Ford 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.