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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Hardin County, Illinois, has about 3,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Illinois the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Illinois State Police is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Hardin County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Hardin County public records, Hardin County arrest records, Hardin County warrants, Hardin County inmate search, Hardin County court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court of Hardin County
In Illinois the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Hardin County are heard by the Circuit Court of Hardin County, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate, traffic and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Clerk.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at illinoiscourts.gov/courts-directory/17/Hardin-County-Courthouse/court (page title: Hardin County Courthouse | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts), phone (618) 287-2735, mons 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026. That page belongs to a lower court, not to the Circuit Court of Hardin County.
Illinois has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Illinois Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at isp.illinois.gov/BureauOfIdentification/MyRecord.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Hardin County
The Hardin County Sheriff's Office keeps the arrest records in Hardin County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The Hardin County Sheriff's Office reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Hardin County arrest records.
The Sex Offender Registry for Hardin County
Registered sex offenders living in Hardin County are listed on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, run by the Illinois State Police at illinois.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Hardin County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, with one 5-day extension, and it may charge copying only after the first 50 pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Hardin 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.
Can I search Hardin County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at illinoiscourts.gov (page title: Hardin County Courthouse | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts); it belongs to a lower court, not to the Circuit Court of Hardin County.
How do I get my own Illinois criminal history?
Through a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Is this the official Hardin 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.