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.
Massac County, Illinois, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Massac 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 Massac 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: Massac County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Massac County
The Massac County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Massac County. It reported 110 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Massac County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Metropolis, 5,776 residents: 214 arrests reported for 2025.
- Brookport, 691 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 Massac 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.
- Brookport: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Metropolis: 214 for 2025, 223 for 2024, 190 for 2023, 178 for 2022 and 201 for 2021.
- Massac County Sheriff's Office: 110 for 2025, 127 for 2024, 104 for 2023 and 209 for 2022.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,476 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,476 in 2025 against 1,502 in 2024, down 1.7 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 883 arrests, against 987 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Massac County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Massac 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 2023 the jail held about 21 people, down from about 35 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 33 beds, and it ran at 105 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 Massac County
Whether someone was arrested in Massac County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court of Massac County, kept by the Circuit Clerk, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at massaccountyil.gov/states-attorney, phone (618) 524-2587).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at illinoiscourts.gov/courts-directory/134/Massac-County-Courthouse/court (page title: Massac County Courthouse | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts), phone (618) 524-4850, belongs to a lower court, not to the Circuit Court of Massac 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 Massac 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 Massac County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Metropolis or Brookport: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (618) 524-2587, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Circuit Court of Massac County it is kept by the Circuit Clerk. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at illinoiscourts.gov, phone (618) 524-4850, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Massac County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Massac County: Metropolis and Brookport. Joppa has 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 Massac County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Massac County each year?
Brookport reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,476 between them.
Where are people arrested in Massac County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Massac County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Massac 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 Massac County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Massac 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 Massac 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.