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 1, 2026.
Pike County, Illinois, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pike County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Pike 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: Pike County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pike County
The Pike County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pike County. It reported 56 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Pike County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Pittsfield, 4,048 residents: 56 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 Pike 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.
- Pittsfield: 56 for 2025, 38 for 2024, 96 for 2023 and 86 for 2022.
- Pike County Sheriff's Office: 56 for 2025, 85 for 2023, 100 for 2022 and 113 for 2021; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 112 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 56 in 2025 against 38 in 2024.
Through May 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 52 arrests, against 57 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pike County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Pike 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 2024 the jail held about 35 people, down from about 54 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 61 beds, and it ran at 89 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Pike County
An arrest in Pike County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court of Pike County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at pikecountyil.org/circuit-court, phone 877-222-4668); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pikecountyil.org/state-attorney-office, phone 217-285-5646).
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 Pike 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 Pike County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Pittsfield: 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, 217-285-5646, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Pike County, through the court records page at pikecountyil.org/circuit-court, phone 877-222-4668.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Pike County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the 17 cities in Pike County: Pittsfield. Barry, Griggsville, Pleasant Hill, Hull, New Canton, Perry, Nebo, Milton, Kinderhook, Baylis, New Salem, Pearl and four more 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 Pike County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pike County each year?
Pittsfield reported 56 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 112 between them.
Where are people arrested in Pike County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pike County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pike 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 Pike County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pike 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 Pike 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.