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 2, 2026.
Henry County, Illinois, has about 48,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Henry County Sheriff's Office, ten city agencies and one campus agency. 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 Henry 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: Henry County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Henry County
The Henry County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Henry County. It reported 338 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists ten cities in Henry County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Kewanee, 12,146 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2019.
- Geneseo, 6,503 residents: 71 arrests reported for 2025.
- Colona, 4,960 residents: 101 arrests reported for 2025.
- Galva, 2,396 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cambridge, 2,034 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2025.
- Orion, 1,714 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2025.
- Atkinson, 930 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2025.
- Annawan, 860 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2025.
- Woodhull, 733 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2019.
- Alpha, 653 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.
The Coal Valley Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Henry County, so its arrests are not broken out for Henry County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Henry County: Black Hawk College at Kewanee (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Henry 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.
- Alpha: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Galva: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Henry County Sheriff's Office: 338 for 2025, 285 for 2023 and 202 for 2022; 2024 is missing months.
- Colona: 101 for 2025, 102 for 2024, 114 for 2023, 107 for 2022 and 112 for 2021.
- Geneseo: 71 for 2025, 63 for 2024, 55 for 2023, 45 for 2022 and 24 for 2021.
- Orion: 11 for 2025, 16 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Atkinson: 11 for 2025, 8 for 2024 and 2 for 2023.
- Cambridge: 7 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 9 for 2023, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Annawan: 5 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 7 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
- Kewanee: 0 for 2019.
- Woodhull: 0 for 2019.
Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,848 arrests that year. The eight of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,510 in 2025 against 2,510 in 2024.
Through June 2026, the eight agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,258 arrests, against 1,422 in the same months of 2025.
Kewanee reported only part of 2025 (4 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Henry County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Henry 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 100 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 132 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Henry County Sheriff's Office at henrycty.com/m/directory/department?did=59 (page title: Sheriff's Office | Staff Directory), phone 309-937-3901, 311 W Center Street Cambridge, IL 61238, Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 2, 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 Henry County
Whether someone was arrested in Henry County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court of Henry County, kept by the Circuit Clerk, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at henrycty.com/264/States-Attorney, phone 309-937-3582).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at henrycountycourts.org/case-search (page title: Henry County Court Case Search), belongs to a lower court, not to the Circuit Court of Henry County.
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 Henry 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 Henry County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 309-937-3901.
- An arrest in Kewanee, Geneseo, Colona, Galva, Cambridge, Orion 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.
- An arrest by Black Hawk College at Kewanee: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 309-937-3582, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Circuit Court of Henry County it is kept by the Circuit Clerk. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at henrycountycourts.org/case-search, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Henry County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for ten of the 14 cities in Henry County: Kewanee, Geneseo, Colona, Galva, Cambridge, Orion, Atkinson, Annawan, Woodhull and Alpha. Andover, Hooppole, Cleveland and Bishop Hill 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 Henry County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Henry County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Geneseo (6,503)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Henry County each year?
Alpha reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,848 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Henry County?
Ask the Henry County Sheriff's Office at 309-937-3901; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at henrycty.com/m/directory/department?did=59.
Where are people arrested in Henry County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Henry County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Henry 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 Henry County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Henry 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 Henry 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.