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.
Iroquois County, Illinois, has about 26,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Iroquois County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Iroquois 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: Iroquois County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Iroquois County
The Iroquois County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Iroquois County. It reported 138 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Watseka, 4,495 residents: 178 arrests reported for 2025.
- Clifton, 1,295 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Onarga, 1,294 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2023.
- Milford, 1,111 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sheldon, 930 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 Iroquois 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.
- Milford: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Sheldon: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Watseka: 178 for 2025, 147 for 2024, 115 for 2023 and 110 for 2022.
- Iroquois County Sheriff's Office: 138 for 2025, 115 for 2024, 223 for 2023, 179 for 2022 and 101 for 2021.
- Clifton: 0 for 2025.
- Onarga: 1 for 2023, 1 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,620 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,620 in 2025 against 2,566 in 2024, up 2.1 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,456 arrests, against 1,759 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Iroquois County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Iroquois 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 2023 the jail held about 21 people, down from about 29 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 30 beds, and it ran at 97 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 Iroquois County Sheriff's Office at iroquoiscountyil.gov/offices/sheriff (page title: Iroquois County Sheriff | Iroquois County), phone (815) 432-6992, 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 Iroquois County
An arrest in Iroquois County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Iroquois County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at iroquoiscountyil.gov/offices/circuit-clerk, phone (815) 432-6950); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at iroquoiscountyil.gov/offices/states-attorney, phone 815-432-6980).
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 Iroquois County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Iroquois County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (815) 432-6992.
- An arrest in Watseka, Clifton, Onarga, Milford or Sheldon: 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, 815-432-6980, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Iroquois County, through the court records page at iroquoiscountyil.gov/offices/circuit-clerk, phone (815) 432-6950.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Iroquois County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 21 cities in Iroquois County: Watseka, Clifton, Onarga, Milford and Sheldon. Gilman, Chebanse, Cissna Park, Ashkum, Danforth, Crescent City, Buckley, Loda, Martinton, Beaverville, Donovan, Woodland and four 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 Iroquois County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Iroquois County each year?
Milford reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,620 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Iroquois County?
Ask the Iroquois County Sheriff's Office at (815) 432-6992; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at iroquoiscountyil.gov/offices/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Iroquois County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Iroquois County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Iroquois 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 Iroquois County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Iroquois 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 Iroquois 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.