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.
Stephenson County, Illinois, has about 43,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and one other 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 Stephenson 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: Stephenson County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Stephenson County
The Stephenson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Stephenson County. It reported 310 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists three cities in Stephenson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Freeport, 23,140 residents: 1,164 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lena, 2,666 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- German Valley, 417 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Stephenson County: the Freeport Park District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Stephenson 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.
- Freeport: 1,164 for 2025, 1,158 for 2024, 912 for 2023 and 997 for 2022.
- Lena: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- German Valley: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Stephenson County Sheriff's Office: 310 for 2024, 197 for 2023 and 204 for 2022.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,468 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,468 in 2025 against 3,462 in 2024, up 0.2 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,941 arrests, against 2,130 in the same months of 2025.
Stephenson County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Stephenson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Stephenson 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 2020 the jail held about 56 people, down from about 85 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 212 beds, and it ran at 40 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office at stephensoncountyil.gov/government/sheriff_s_office/jail_inmate_info... (page title: Stephenson County, IL), phone 815-235-8254, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Stephenson County
Whether someone was arrested in Stephenson County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Circuit Court of Stephenson County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at stephensoncountyil.gov/government/circuit_clerk_and_court/index.php, phone 815-235-8266); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at stephensoncountyil.gov/government/state_s_attorney/index.php, phone 815-235-8279).
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 Stephenson 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 Stephenson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 815-235-8254.
- An arrest in Freeport, Lena or German Valley: 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 Freeport Park District: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 815-235-8279, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Stephenson County, through the court records page at stephensoncountyil.gov, phone 815-235-8266.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Stephenson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 11 cities in Stephenson County: Freeport, Lena and German Valley. Pearl City, Orangeville, Cedarville, Davis, Dakota, Rock City, Winslow and Ridott 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 Stephenson County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Stephenson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Freeport (23,140)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Stephenson County each year?
Freeport reported 1,164 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,468 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Stephenson County?
Look on the custody page of the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office at stephensoncountyil.gov, or call 815-235-8254. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Stephenson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Stephenson 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 Stephenson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Stephenson 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 Stephenson 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.