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 4, 2026.
Franklin County, Illinois, has about 37,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and seven 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 Franklin 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: Franklin County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Franklin County. It reported 313 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists seven cities in Franklin County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- West Frankfort, 7,131 residents.
- Benton, 6,578 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
- Christopher, 2,621 residents: 29 arrests reported for 2024.
- Sesser, 1,876 residents: 23 arrests reported for 2024.
- Zeigler, 1,465 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Royalton, 1,043 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
- West City, 640 residents: 69 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 Franklin 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.
- Zeigler: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Franklin County Sheriff's Office: 313 for 2025 and 183 for 2024.
- West City: 69 for 2025 and 76 for 2024.
- Christopher: 29 for 2024, 8 for 2023, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Sesser: 23 for 2024, 18 for 2023 and 0 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Benton: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
- Royalton: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,463 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 1,204 in 2024 against 1,172 in 2023, up 2.7 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Franklin 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 94 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 92 beds, and it ran at 102 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklincountyil.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Franklin County), phone (618) 438-4841, 403 East Main Street | Benton, IL 62812, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Franklin County
An arrest in Franklin County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Franklin County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at franklincountyil.gov/circuitclerk, phone (618) 435-9800); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at franklincountyil.gov/states-attorney, phone (618) 439-4316).
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 Franklin 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (618) 438-4841.
- An arrest in West Frankfort, Benton, Christopher, Sesser, Zeigler, Royalton or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (618) 439-4316, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Franklin County, through the court records page at franklincountyil.gov/circuitclerk, phone (618) 435-9800.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the 14 cities in Franklin County: West Frankfort, Benton, Christopher, Sesser, Zeigler, Royalton and West City. Valier, North City, Thompsonville, Buckner, Orient, Hanaford and Ewing 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 Franklin County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Franklin County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Benton (6,578)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
Zeigler reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Franklin County sent in full, the five with every month on file reported 1,463 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Franklin County?
Ask the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at (618) 438-4841; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at franklincountyil.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin 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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin 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 Franklin 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.