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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Scott County, Illinois, has about 4,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Scott 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 Scott 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: Scott County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Scott County
The Scott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Scott County. It reported 25 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Scott County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Winchester, 1,510 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bluffs, 597 residents: 0 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 Scott 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.
- Winchester: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Scott County Sheriff's Office: 25 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 38 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Bluffs: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 2 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 0 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,177 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,177 in 2025 against 1,199 in 2024, down 1.8 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Scott County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Scott 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.
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 Scott County
Whether someone was arrested in Scott County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court of Scott County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at scottcoil.gov/circuitclerkinformation, phone (833) 411-1121); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at scottcoil.gov/attorneyinformation, phone (217) 742-8907).
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 Scott 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Winchester or Bluffs: 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) 742-8907, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Scott County, through the court records page at scottcoil.gov/circuitclerkinformation, phone (833) 411-1121.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Scott County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the seven cities in Scott County: Winchester and Bluffs. Manchester, Alsey, Glasgow, Naples and Exeter 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 Scott County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Scott County each year?
Winchester reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,177 between them.
Where are people arrested in Scott County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Scott 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 Scott County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Scott 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 Scott 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.