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 on September 23, 2026.
Mason County, Illinois, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mason County Sheriff's Office and six 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 Mason 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: Mason County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mason County
The Mason County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mason County. It reported 64 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Havana, 2,826 residents: 40 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mason City, 1,982 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2024.
- Manito, 1,488 residents: 48 arrests reported for 2025.
- San Jose, 469 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2022.
- Easton, 302 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Forest City, 210 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2019.
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 Mason 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.
- Easton: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Manito: 48 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 21 for 2023, 52 for 2022, 50 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
- Havana: 40 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 65 for 2023, 56 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Mason County Sheriff's Office: 64 for 2024, 40 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 7 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Mason City: 20 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 14 for 2021 and 0 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Forest City: 0 for 2019.
- San Jose: 0 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 1,240 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,240 in 2025 against 1,228 in 2024, up 1 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 701 arrests, against 822 in the same months of 2025.
Mason City and Mason County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (9 months and 8 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mason County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Mason 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 38 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 44 beds, and it ran at 86 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Mason County
For Mason County the place to look is the case index of the Circuit Court of Mason County, kept by the Circuit Clerk, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at illinoiscourts.gov/courts-directory/101/Mason-County-Courthouse/court (page title: Mason County Courthouse | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts), phone (309) 543-6619, belongs to a lower court, not to the Circuit Court of Mason County.
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 Mason 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 Mason County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Havana, Mason City, Manito, San Jose, Easton or Forest City: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Circuit Court of Mason County it is kept by the Circuit Clerk. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at illinoiscourts.gov, phone (309) 543-6619, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Mason County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the nine cities in Mason County: Havana, Mason City, Manito, San Jose, Easton and Forest City. Bath, Kilbourne and Topeka 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 Mason County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mason County each year?
Easton reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,240 between them.
Where are people arrested in Mason County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mason County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mason 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 Mason County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mason 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 Mason 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.