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.
Jersey County, Illinois, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jersey County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Jersey 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: Jersey County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jersey County
The Jersey County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jersey County. It reported 73 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Jersey County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Jerseyville, 8,350 residents: 101 arrests reported for 2025.
- Grafton, 772 residents: 2 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 Brighton Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Jersey County, so its arrests are not broken out for Jersey County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jersey County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Jerseyville: 101 for 2025, 83 for 2024, 147 for 2023, 111 for 2022 and 163 for 2021.
- Jersey County Sheriff's Office: 73 for 2025, 74 for 2024, 92 for 2023, 122 for 2022 and 173 for 2021.
- Grafton: 2 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 2 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 176 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 176 in 2025 against 157 in 2024, up 12 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 142 arrests, against 119 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jersey County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Jersey 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 27 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 36 beds, and it ran at 74 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 Jersey County Sheriff's Office at jerseycounty-il.gov/sheriff-department (page title: Sheriff Department | Jersey County Government), phone 618-498-5571, 201 W Pearl St. Jerseyville, IL 62052, Monday: 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM, 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 Jersey County
For Jersey County the place to look is the case index of the Circuit Court of Jersey County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at circuitclerk.jerseycounty-il.gov).
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 Jersey 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 Jersey County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 618-498-5571.
- An arrest in Jerseyville or Grafton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Jersey County, through the court records page at circuitclerk.jerseycounty-il.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Jersey County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the six cities in Jersey County: Jerseyville and Grafton. Elsah, Fieldon, Fidelity and Otterville 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 Jersey County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jersey County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Jerseyville (8,350)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jersey County each year?
Jerseyville reported 101 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 176 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jersey County?
Ask the Jersey County Sheriff's Office at 618-498-5571; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at jerseycounty-il.gov/sheriff-department.
Where are people arrested in Jersey County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jersey County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jersey 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 Jersey County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jersey 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 Jersey 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.