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 between September 23, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Union County, Illinois, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Union County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Union 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: Union County public records, Illinois arrest records, Illinois inmate search and Illinois criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Union County
The Union County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Union County. It reported 77 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four 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:
- Anna, 4,165 residents: 51 arrests reported for 2024.
- Jonesboro, 1,655 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cobden, 1,040 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Dongola, 645 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 Union County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Dongola: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Cobden: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Jonesboro: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Union County Sheriff's Office: 77 for 2025 and 88 for 2024.
- Anna: 51 for 2024, 101 for 2023, 109 for 2022 and 120 for 2021.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,533 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,533 in 2025 against 3,544 in 2024, down 0.3 percent.
Through September 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,998 arrests, against 2,592 in the same months of 2025.
Anna reported only part of 2025 (1 month) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Union County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Union 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.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Union County Sheriff's Office at ilsheriff.org/county/union (page title: Union County | Illinois Sheriffs' Association), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Union County
For Union County the place to look is the case index of the Circuit Court of Union 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/146/Union-County-Courthouse/court (page title: Union County Courthouse | State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts), phone (618) 833-8114, belongs to a lower court, not to the Circuit Court of Union 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 Union 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 Union County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Anna, Jonesboro, Cobden or Dongola: 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 Union County it is kept by the Circuit Clerk. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at illinoiscourts.gov, phone (618) 833-8114, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
Cities in Union County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the six cities in Union County: Anna, Jonesboro, Cobden and Dongola. Alto Pass and Mill Creek 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 Union County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Union County each year?
Dongola reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,533 between them.
Where are people arrested in Union County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Union County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Union 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 Union County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Union 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 Union 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.