McDonough County Jail Mugshots

McDonough County jail mugshots are kept by the Sheriff's Office in Macomb, which runs the county jail and handles every booking in the area. Macomb is a college town that serves as the county seat, and the jail sees bookings from local police, university police, and sheriff's deputies alike. If you need to look up jail mugshots or check who is in custody in McDonough County, the sheriff's office manages all of those records. This page explains how to search for booking photos and arrest data from McDonough County.

McDonough County Sheriff's Office

The McDonough County Sheriff's Office runs the jail in Macomb and keeps all booking records. The office is located at 110 S. McArthur Street. Every person arrested in McDonough County gets processed at this facility. Staff take a mugshot, log the charges, and add the booking to the system. That record stays on file and can be pulled up when someone makes a request. The sheriff handles patrol, court security, and jail operations out of the Macomb facility.

McDonough County has a mix of rural and college-town activity. Macomb is home to Western Illinois University, which adds to the arrest volume at certain times of year. The city police and the university's Department of Public Safety both bring bookings to the county jail. All mugshots end up in the same system managed by the sheriff regardless of which department made the arrest in McDonough County.

How to Find McDonough County Mugshots

McDonough County does not run a public online inmate search tool on the sheriff's website. To find jail mugshots, you need to call the office, go in person, or file a FOIA request. Calling is the quickest option for a simple check. Give the staff a name and approximate arrest date. They can look it up and tell you what the McDonough County system shows for that person.

A formal FOIA request works for getting copies of the mugshot and full booking record. Under 5 ILCS 140/2.15, the McDonough County Sheriff must release arrest data within 72 hours of a booking. That includes the person's name, age, address, charges, and photograph. The law makes this data public. The sheriff has to hand it over when asked, as long as no specific exemption applies to that record.

Fees for copies follow state rules. Under 5 ILCS 160, agencies can only charge the actual cost of copying. No labor fees on top of that. McDonough County follows this rule.

Note: Some local media outlets publish McDonough County arrest logs, which can help you narrow down a date before contacting the sheriff.

Jail Mugshot Laws for McDonough County

Several Illinois statutes shape how McDonough County deals with jail mugshots. The Freedom of Information Act at 5 ILCS 140/2.15 is the main one. It forces the release of arrest data, including booking photos, within 72 hours of each arrest. The same law bars posting mugshots on social media for low-level offenses. In McDonough County, that means booking photos from Class B or Class C misdemeanors, petty offenses, and civil violations stay off the sheriff's social media pages unless the person is a fugitive.

The Uniform Conviction Information Act (20 ILCS 2635) gives the public access to conviction data through the Illinois State Police. If someone booked in McDonough County got convicted, that record is in the state database. The Bureau of Identification processes requests for this data. A form and a fee are required.

The consumer protection law at 815 ILCS 505/2QQQ targets websites that post mugshots and charge removal fees. Any site that does this with a McDonough County booking photo is breaking the law. The Attorney General handles enforcement, and the person in the photo can sue for damages. This law exists because mugshot exploitation became a real problem across Illinois.

Statewide Resources for McDonough County

If someone from McDonough County ends up in state prison, the Illinois Department of Corrections tracks them. The IDOC inmate search covers all state facilities and shows the person's current location, charges, and projected release date. It does not display the original McDonough County jail mugshot, but it has state prison photos on file for each inmate.

The Illinois State Police sex offender search shown above lets you look up registered offenders in the McDonough County area. Visit sor.isp.illinois.gov to search by name or address. This is a separate system from the jail mugshot records at the sheriff's office.

The Bureau of Identification keeps criminal history data for all of Illinois. You can request conviction records tied to McDonough County arrests through their office in Joliet at 815-740-5160. The IDOC wanted fugitives page lists people with active warrants who may have connections to McDonough County. The State Appellate Defender has info on clearing old records through expungement or sealing.

Cities in McDonough County

Every arrest in McDonough County gets processed at the county jail in Macomb. Local police and university police make arrests, but jail mugshots and booking records stay with the sheriff. Communities in the county include Macomb, Bushnell, Colchester, and Blandinsville. None meet the population threshold for a separate page, so all mugshot searches go through the McDonough County Sheriff's Office.

Nearby Counties

These counties border McDonough County. If the person was arrested in a nearby area, the booking may be in one of these counties instead.