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.
Knox County, Illinois, has about 49,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Knox County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Knox 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: Knox County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Knox County
The Knox County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Knox County. It reported 472 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Galesburg, 29,289 residents: 1,452 arrests reported for 2025.
- Knoxville, 2,840 residents: 40 arrests reported for 2025.
- Yates City, 637 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
- Williamsfield, 557 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 Knox 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.
- Galesburg: 1,452 for 2025 and 1,525 for 2024.
- Williamsfield: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Knox County Sheriff's Office: 472 for 2025 and 341 for 2024.
- Knoxville: 40 for 2025 and 11 for 2024.
- Yates City: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,116 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,116 in 2025 against 3,029 in 2024, up 2.9 percent.
Through September 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,883 arrests, against 2,395 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Knox County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Knox 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 2019 the jail held about 110 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 128 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Knox County Sheriff's Office at knoxsheriff.org (page title: Knox County Sheriff's Office), phone 888-868-4631, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Illinois Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Knox County
For Knox County the place to look is the case index of the Circuit Court of Knox County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at illinoiscourts.gov/courts-directory/25/Knox-County-Courthouse/court, phone (309) 345-3847).
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 Knox 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 Knox County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 888-868-4631.
- An arrest in Galesburg, Knoxville, Yates City or Williamsfield: 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 Knox County, through the court records page at illinoiscourts.gov, phone (309) 345-3847.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Knox County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the 14 cities in Knox County: Galesburg, Knoxville, Yates City and Williamsfield. Abingdon, East Galesburg, Wataga, Oneida, Altona, Victoria, Henderson, Maquon, Rio and St. Augustine 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 Knox County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Knox County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Galesburg (29,289)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Knox County each year?
Galesburg reported 1,452 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,116 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Knox County?
Ask the Knox County Sheriff's Office at 888-868-4631; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at knoxsheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Knox County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Knox County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Knox 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 Knox County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Knox 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 Knox 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.