Illinois Criminal Records Search by Name: Public Lookup Guide

Where to Search Illinois Criminal Records by Name

Illinois criminal case information is primarily maintained at the county Circuit Court Clerk level. Illinois has 102 counties, and there is no single unrestricted public trial-court search that reliably covers every criminal case in all of them.

There are three useful starting points depending on what kind of information you want.

How to Search Illinois Criminal Court Records by Name: Step by Step

The following method works for most Illinois counties, although the exact names of search fields vary between portals.

1. Identify the county where the case was filed. Start with the county where the alleged offense or court proceeding occurred. The person’s current home address may be in a different county.
2. Open the official Illinois Circuit Court Clerk directory. Visit the Illinois Courts Clerk Directory and find the relevant county.
3. Locate the county’s case-search system. Look for Case Lookup, Court Records, Case Search, Online Case Information, Public Access or Records Search on the Clerk’s website.
4. Choose the name-search option. Enter the person’s last name and first name as instructed. Some systems require the format Last Name, First Name.
5. Choose the criminal case type. If the search offers case categories, narrow to Criminal Felony (CF), Criminal Misdemeanor (CM) or DUI (DT) as appropriate.
6. Review the possible matches. Compare the name, filing date, court, case number and any other identifying details lawfully shown. A name match alone does not prove identity.
7. Open the individual case. Review the court events, charge descriptions, hearings, pleas and disposition. Some systems call this information the docket or case history.
8. Check the final judgment. A filed charge is not proof of conviction. Look for the judgment, dismissal, acquittal or sentencing entry and check whether later orders changed the outcome.
9. Request an official disposition if needed. Contact the Circuit Court Clerk for certified documents or records not displayed online.

Cook County and Chicago Criminal Records Search by Name

Cook County is home to Chicago and numerous surrounding municipalities. Its public criminal court records are maintained by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

The Clerk provides an online case-information service covering available historical and active cases.

How to search Cook County cases

1. Open the official Cook County case-search website. Visit casesearch.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org.
2. Use Smart Search where available. The Clerk’s public Odyssey instructions describe searching by a person’s name or case number.
3. Enter the name in the correct format. The public user guide instructs users to enter names as Last Name, First Name.
4. Select the relevant matching case. Review its available case details and court events.
5. Check the recorded disposition. Identify whether the case is pending, dismissed, resolved by a plea or associated with a conviction.
6. Contact the Clerk for an official record. The online summary is not the certified court file.

Can a Chicago police arrest be searched here?

A Chicago Police Department arrest record and a Cook County criminal court case are different records. A person can be arrested without a criminal prosecution being filed, and a police incident report may not appear in the Circuit Court Clerk’s database.

If you need the person’s own Chicago arrest history, Illinois Legal Aid Online explains that a Chicago Police Department Record of Arrests and Prosecutions (RAP sheet) may be relevant alongside Illinois State Police records.

Illinois Criminal Records Search by County: Official Portal Examples

Outside Cook County, online access varies by county. The following are verified examples of court search options and records procedures.

Is Judici an official Illinois criminal-history database?

No. Judici is a privately operated platform that hosts or displays information for participating Illinois courts.

Public individual-court searches are available through participating Judici court pages, while some multi-court searches and professional features require a subscription.

Verify an important disposition with the relevant Circuit Court Clerk rather than assuming Judici contains every case filed in Illinois.

Illinois Criminal Case Numbers: CF, CM, DT and Other Case Types

When searching Illinois criminal records by name, case-type filters can help distinguish felony proceedings, misdemeanor cases and traffic matters.

Example of an Illinois criminal case number

A number such as 2024CF123 generally identifies a felony criminal case filed in 2024, with 123 serving as the case sequence. The correct county must also be known because each Circuit Court Clerk maintains its own records.

Some courts display spaces or hyphens in their case numbers. Enter the full number according to the selected portal’s instructions.

How to identify the result of a criminal case

Illinois State Police Criminal History Search by Name

Illinois State Police (ISP) maintains the state’s criminal-history repository through its Bureau of Identification (BOI).

Under Illinois’s Uniform Conviction Information Act (UCIA), qualifying conviction-history information maintained by ISP is available to the public.

This public-access right is not the same as unrestricted access to all arrests, dismissed cases, sealed records or FBI criminal-history information.

What does the public UCIA search include?

ISP states that its public UCIA program permits only conviction information to be disseminated to the public.

A court’s public docket may show a pending charge or dismissed case that does not appear in a public UCIA conviction-history response.

How to request Illinois public conviction information

1. Read ISP’s Criminal History instructions. Start with the official Illinois State Police Criminal History page.
2. Choose the correct request type. Determine whether you need a name-based UCIA public conviction inquiry or an authorized fingerprint-based request.
3. Obtain the appropriate form. ISP provides a UCIA paper-form ordering page for requesters needing forms mailed to them.
4. Follow the form’s identification instructions. Provide accurate identifying information and any required fingerprints.
5. Confirm the applicable fee. ISP charges differently for paper and electronic UCIA inquiries.
6. Submit through the permitted method. Follow the directions accompanying the form or the authorized electronic system.
7. Review the response carefully. Check possible identity matches and remember that a public UCIA response does not cover every category of criminal justice information.

What is Illinois CHIRP?

CHIRP stands for Criminal History Information Response Process. It is ISP’s electronic system used to process qualifying criminal-history inquiries.

The CHIRP login page requires enhanced authentication and a State of Illinois Digital ID. It also states that access to the information provided through the service is limited to law-enforcement agencies or users with an agreement with Illinois State Police.

Illinois Criminal Records Search Fees in 2026

Public court case searches are often free, but official state conviction-history inquiries, fingerprint processing and certified court copies can have separate charges.

The Illinois State Police fee schedule was updated for certain applicant checks effective October 1, 2026. Check the applicable request category before submitting payment.

Illinois State Police — Official Criminal-History Fee Schedule

How to Obtain Your Own Illinois Criminal History (RAP Sheet)

If you want to see your own Illinois criminal-history transcript—including qualifying information that is not available through an ordinary public conviction search—use ISP’s Access and Review process.

The request requires fingerprints so the State Police can identify the correct person and prepare the available criminal-history information.

1. Read the ISP Access and Review instructions. Visit Viewing My Record.
2. Contact a fingerprint provider. Use an Illinois law-enforcement or correctional facility, or a licensed Live Scan fingerprint vendor that offers the Access and Review service.
3. Provide identification and fingerprints. The provider submits the required fingerprint and identity information to ISP.
4. Receive the response. ISP sends the criminal-history transcript or a statement that no criminal history was found through the permitted delivery process.
5. Inspect arrests and dispositions. Check for incorrect identifying information, missing court outcomes or entries that may need updating.
6. Use the Record Challenge form if necessary. ISP includes instructions for disputing inaccurate information.

How to Request Certified Illinois Criminal Court Records

An online name-search result is useful for identifying a case, but a certified judgment or disposition must come from the court that maintains the original record.

For example, the Cook County Clerk states that its online docket information is not an official court record, and Sangamon County similarly distinguishes its online case summaries from the actual court file.

1. Find the case online. Record the full case number, defendant name and filing county.
2. Identify the Circuit Court Clerk. Use the official Clerk directory.
3. Ask for the specific document. Examples include a certified disposition, judgment, sentencing order, dismissal order or docket sheet.
4. Confirm public access. Some records are confidential, impounded, sealed or expunged.
5. Check the copying and certification fees. Costs and available request methods differ between counties.
6. Obtain the court-issued document. Keep the official certification if it is needed for an administrative, licensing or legal purpose.

Can you request court records under Illinois FOIA?

Ordinary Illinois court records are generally obtained through court access rules and the Circuit Court Clerk—not through an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request to the Clerk.

Sangamon County’s Circuit Clerk specifically explains that the judicial branch is not subject to FOIA in the same way as executive agencies.

Sangamon Circuit Clerk — Records Requests and FOIA Explanation

Illinois Inmate, Prison and Sex Offender Records by Name

Court criminal records do not automatically show whether a person is currently in jail or state prison.

For correctional information, use the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and the appropriate county jail or sheriff.

Where can you find recent Illinois jail bookings?

For recent local custody information, contact the sheriff or detention facility in the relevant county.

County jail records are different from IDOC prison information, and a booking record is not proof of a conviction.

Illinois Clean Slate, Expungement and Sealed Criminal Records in 2026

Illinois permits qualifying criminal records to be expunged or sealed. These remedies have different legal effects.

Expungement generally involves removal or destruction of eligible records under the applicable law. Sealing generally restricts public access while allowing certain authorized agencies to retain access.

What changed under Illinois’s Clean Slate law?

Changes effective June 1, 2026 altered certain eligibility and waiting-period rules for sealing qualifying records.

Under the updated rules, some qualifying misdemeanor convictions, supervision outcomes and probationary dispositions may become eligible for sealing after two years. Other qualifying felony convictions may require three years after completion of the applicable sentence.

The precise requirements and exclusions depend on the offense, disposition and criminal history.

Automatic sealing does not begin until 2029

Although parts of the Clean Slate law took effect in June 2026, the law provides for automatic sealing to begin January 1, 2029, subject to the statutory implementation framework.

Older eligible cases will be processed in phases. As of October 2026, it would be incorrect to assume that every record eligible under Clean Slate had already disappeared from Illinois public court searches.

How to request record clearing now

1. Gather your records. Obtain your Illinois State Police criminal-history transcript and the relevant county court dispositions.
2. Check eligibility. Use the current Illinois Courts forms and Illinois Legal Aid Online guidance.
3. Prepare the appropriate court petition. Choose expungement, sealing or the correct statutory remedy.
4. File in the correct county. If cases occurred in several Illinois counties, separate requests may be necessary.
5. Follow court notice and hearing requirements. The process depends on the case and whether an objection is filed.
6. Keep the signed order. Preserve the final order and verify the relevant agencies have processed it.

The Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender also provides statewide expungement and sealing resources at its official expungement page.

Illinois re:SearchIL and Federal Criminal Records

Two additional systems may be relevant when a criminal case involved an appeal or federal prosecution.

Illinois re:SearchIL

Illinois expanded remote public access to qualifying Supreme Court and appellate court documents effective May 1, 2025.

The expansion covers non-confidential documents filed on or after April 1, 2025, in the reviewing courts, with some exceptions.

However, re:SearchIL should not be presented as an unrestricted statewide criminal trial-court name search covering all 102 counties.

Federal criminal cases in Illinois

Federal criminal cases filed in the Northern, Central or Southern District of Illinois are maintained in the federal judiciary’s system rather than ordinary state circuit court case indexes.

Search the relevant federal district court through PACER, or use PACER Case Locator if the federal court is unknown.

Why Can’t You Find an Illinois Criminal Record by Name?

A search returning no results may simply mean the record is outside that portal’s coverage or is restricted from public disclosure.

Legal Use of Illinois Criminal Records and Background Checks

Public criminal records can be useful, but they should be interpreted carefully and lawfully.

• An arrest is not a criminal conviction.
• A pending felony charge does not prove that someone is a convicted felon.
• A matching name is not conclusive identity verification.
• A dismissal or acquittal should not be described as a conviction.
• Court supervision may have a different legal effect from an ordinary conviction.
• Sealed, expunged and juvenile records can have statutory confidentiality protections.
• Employment and housing screening may involve federal and Illinois legal requirements.

Employers using consumer reporting agencies must comply with applicable Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements. Illinois law may impose additional restrictions regarding employment decisions based on criminal history.

Federal Trade Commission — Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know