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 September 30, 2026.
Macon County, Illinois, has about 101,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Macon County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and four campus, state or other 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 Macon 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: Macon County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Macon County
The Macon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Macon County. It reported 681 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
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:
- Decatur, 68,763 residents: 4,029 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mount Zion, 5,897 residents: 124 arrests reported for 2025.
- Maroa, 1,533 residents.
- Blue Mound, 1,090 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Warrensburg, 1,086 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
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 FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Macon County: the Decatur Park District and Norfolk Southern Railway in Macon County (other); Richland Community College and Millikin University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Macon 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.
- Decatur: 4,029 for 2025, 4,160 for 2024, 3,544 for 2023, 3,418 for 2022 and 3,137 for 2021.
- Mount Zion: 124 for 2025, 127 for 2024, 109 for 2023, 79 for 2022 and 155 for 2021.
- Blue Mound: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 1 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Macon County Sheriff's Office: 681 for 2024, 660 for 2023, 703 for 2022 and 704 for 2021.
- Warrensburg: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,153 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,153 in 2025 against 4,287 in 2024, down 3.1 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,629 arrests, against 2,278 in the same months of 2025.
Macon County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Macon County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Macon 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 2023 the jail held about 320 people, up from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 425 beds, and it ran at 76 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 Macon County Sheriff's Office at sheriff-macon-il.us/corrections (page title: Corrections | Macon County Sheriff), 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 Macon County
An arrest in Macon County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Macon County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at apps.ilsos.gov/isairad/maconsrch.jsp); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at maconcounty.illinois.gov/departments/states-attorney, phone (217) 624-4312).
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 Macon 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 Macon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Decatur, Mount Zion, Maroa, Blue Mound or Warrensburg: 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 the Decatur Park District, Norfolk Southern Railway in Macon County or Richland Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (217) 624-4312, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Macon County, through the court records page at apps.ilsos.gov/isairad/maconsrch.jsp.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Macon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 12 cities in Macon County: Decatur, Mount Zion, Maroa, Blue Mound and Warrensburg. Forsyth, Harristown, Long Creek, Macon, Argenta, Oreana and Niantic 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 Macon County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Macon County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Decatur (68,763)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Macon County each year?
Decatur reported 4,029 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,153 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Macon County?
Ask the Macon County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff-macon-il.us/corrections.
Where are people arrested in Macon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Macon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Macon 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 Macon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Macon 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 Macon 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.