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.
Fulton County, Illinois, has about 33,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office and six 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 Fulton 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: Fulton County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Fulton County
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Fulton County. It reported 0 arrests for 2020, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Canton, 12,896 residents: 420 arrests reported for 2025.
- Farmington, 2,295 residents: 65 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lewistown, 1,960 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Avon, 671 residents.
- Fairview, 410 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2021.
- Dunfermline, 252 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 Fulton 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.
- Lewistown: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Dunfermline: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Canton: 420 for 2025.
- Farmington: 65 for 2025, 70 for 2024, 72 for 2023, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Fairview: 0 for 2021 and 4 for 2020.
- Fulton County Sheriff's Office: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,789 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,369 in 2025 against 2,374 in 2024, down 0.2 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,323 arrests, against 1,569 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fulton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Fulton County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 52 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 80 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Fulton County Sheriff's Office at fultoncountyil.gov/officials/elected/the-county-police (page title: Fulton County Sheriff | Fulton County), phone (309) 547-2277, 268 W. Washington Ave., P.O. Box 269, Lewistown, IL 61542, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Fulton County
Whether someone was arrested in Fulton County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court of Fulton County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at illinoiscourts.gov/courts-directory/13/Fulton-County-Courthouse/court, phone (309) 547-3041); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at fultoncountyil.gov/officials/elected/fulton-county-states-attorney/..., phone (309) 547-3041).
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 Fulton 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 Fulton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (309) 547-2277.
- An arrest in Canton, Farmington, Lewistown, Avon, Fairview or Dunfermline: 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, (309) 547-3041, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Fulton County, through the court records page at illinoiscourts.gov, phone (309) 547-3041.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyil.gov (page title: FOIA- County Clerk | Fulton County).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Fulton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the 20 cities in Fulton County: Canton, Farmington, Lewistown, Avon, Fairview and Dunfermline. Cuba, Astoria, Vermont, St. David, Ipava, London Mills, Table Grove, Smithfield, Norris, Bryant, Banner, Marietta and two more 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 Fulton County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Fulton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Canton (12,896)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fulton County each year?
Lewistown reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,789 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fulton County?
Ask the Fulton County Sheriff's Office at (309) 547-2277; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyil.gov.
Where are people arrested in Fulton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fulton 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 Fulton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fulton 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at fultoncountyil.gov.
Is this the official Fulton 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.