Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime 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 9, 2026.
Jefferson County, Illinois, has about 36,000 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 Jefferson County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Jefferson County public records, Jefferson County arrest records, Jefferson County warrants, Jefferson County inmate search, Jefferson County court records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County
In Illinois the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Jefferson County are heard by the Circuit Court of Jefferson 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 jeffcocircuitclerk.illinois.gov/yourcourtinfo (page title: Lookup Your Court Info | Jefferson County Circuit Clerk), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Jefferson County
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Mount Vernon and Ina keep the arrest records in Jefferson 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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Jefferson County: Rend Lake College (campus police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the three agencies in Jefferson County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 216 arrests to the FBI that year; 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 Jefferson County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Jefferson County in 2025
The three agencies in Jefferson County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 96 violent and 430 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 526 crimes in 2025 against 328 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Jefferson County public records guide.
The Sex Offender Registry for Jefferson County
Registered sex offenders living in Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at jeffcocircuitclerk.illinois.gov/yourcourtinfo (page title: Lookup Your Court Info | Jefferson County Circuit Clerk).
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 Jefferson 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.