Some Illinois criminal-record searches are free — the formal statewide conviction check is not
Illinois criminal records are split between the Illinois State Police, county Circuit Clerks, local law-enforcement agencies, the Illinois Department of Corrections and the state court system. You can search several useful government resources without paying a fee, but Illinois does not provide one completely free statewide official criminal-history report. The Illinois State Police public criminal-history process is governed by the Uniform Conviction Information Act and generally releases conviction information rather than a person’s complete arrest history.
Which Illinois criminal-record searches are actually free?
The word free needs a little explanation in Illinois. Some official government lookup tools cost nothing to use, while a formal statewide criminal-history response from the Illinois State Police has a statutory processing fee.
| Official source | Typical access cost | Best use | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Courts Directory | Free | Finding the Circuit Clerk and correct court | Directory itself is not a criminal-history database. |
| County Circuit Clerk portals | Often free to search | Case number, docket, charge and disposition research | Availability and detail vary by county. |
| Illinois State Police UCIA | Paid | Statewide public conviction information | Public release is conviction information, not a complete arrest history. |
| ISP Access & Review | No ISP processing charge | Reviewing your own Illinois criminal-history transcript | Fingerprint provider may charge its own service fee. |
| IDOC offender search | Free | Illinois correctional custody/offender information | Not a complete criminal-history check. |
| Illinois Sex Offender Registry | Free | Public registration information | Covers qualifying registrants only. |
| re:SearchIL reviewing-court records | Free for qualifying public reviewing-court documents | Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court records | Does not replace the county Circuit Clerk trial-court file. |
Illinois does not keep every criminal record in one public database
State criminal history
The Bureau of Identification is Illinois’ central repository for criminal-history information. Public dissemination under UCIA is limited to conviction information.
Criminal court case
Court filings, charges, docket entries, orders, dispositions and case documents are maintained through the court system in the county where the case was filed.
Arrest or incident report
The law-enforcement agency that investigated the event generally maintains its own arrest, incident and investigative records.
Correctional record
Illinois Department of Corrections tools help locate people within the state correctional system.
Sex-offender information
A specialized statewide registry covers people subject to Illinois sex-offender registration requirements.
Federal criminal case
Federal prosecutions are separate from Illinois state courts and generally use PACER.
Illinois State Police public criminal-history records
The Illinois State Police Bureau of Identification serves as Illinois’ central criminal-history repository.
Public access is governed primarily by the Uniform Conviction Information Act (UCIA). ISP states that the law requires criminal-history conviction information maintained by the Bureau to be made available to the public.
ISP Criminal History InformationWhat the Uniform Conviction Information Act means for a public search
Illinois’ UCIA took effect in 1991. It created a public-access route for conviction information maintained by the Illinois State Police.
That makes Illinois different from states that publish a broad public arrest-history database. Under the ISP public process, a person looking up someone else’s record is generally searching for qualifying conviction information.
Conviction information
Conviction information maintained by ISP is available through the UCIA public process.
Non-conviction information
Do not assume a public UCIA response will reveal every arrest, dismissed case or non-conviction event.
Case documents
The actual complaint, orders, docket and disposition documents belong in the court-record search.
Current Illinois State Police criminal-history fees
The current ISP Bureau of Identification fee schedule lists separate prices for UCIA name and fingerprint inquiries.
| Request type | Electronic / Live Scan | Manual / Paper | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCIA name-based inquiry | $10 | $16 | Public conviction-information inquiry. |
| UCIA fingerprint inquiry | $15 | $20 | Fingerprint-based conviction inquiry. |
| Access & Review | No ISP processing fee | A fingerprint vendor or agency may charge for fingerprinting. | |
| Record Challenge | No ISP processing fee | Used to challenge your own Illinois criminal-history information. | |
| Court order to expunge or seal | $60 ISP processing fee | Separate from court filing costs and eligibility rules. | |
Fees can change. Confirm current amounts on the ISP Bureau of Identification Fee Schedule before submitting a paid request.
How the Illinois name-based criminal-history search works
ISP routes name-based criminal-history inquiries through its Criminal History Information Response Process (CHIRP) and UCIA procedures.
The Bureau’s official guidance explains that a name-based search compares identifying information against the Illinois criminal-history database. Name-based matching is less certain than fingerprint matching.
Gather accurate identifying information
Use the person’s correct legal name and other identifying information required by the request process.
Choose electronic or paper UCIA access
Electronic name inquiries use the ISP criminal-history process. Paper UCIA forms are also available.
Submit the required fee
The ISP fee differs between an electronic name inquiry and the manual/paper request.
Review the response carefully
A possible name match is not as strong as fingerprint identification.
Verify the conviction with the Circuit Clerk
If the result matters, use the county court file to verify the conviction and disposition.
Out-of-state users
ISP also provides a process for requesting original UCIA forms by mail. The Bureau’s form-order page includes:
- Non-Fingerprint Request Form ISP6-405B
- Fingerprint Request Form ISP6-404B
When fingerprints are better than a name search
ISP’s criminal-history guidance warns that name-based searches can create false matches or miss a record when a person has used aliases, false names or different birth dates.
Fingerprints are much stronger because fingerprints uniquely identify the person being searched.
Illinois fingerprint transactions are submitted electronically through licensed Live Scan vendors. For employment or licensing checks, ISP advises applicants to obtain the correct fingerprint instructions from the requesting agency before visiting a vendor.
ISP Fingerprint Background ChecksA “no record” response does not always mean no conviction exists
ISP’s own guidance warns users not to overinterpret name-based results.
A no-record result can occur when:
- there is no qualifying Illinois conviction record
- the identifying information was entered incorrectly
- the person used another name or date of birth
- the record is indexed differently
- the case was sealed or otherwise restricted
- the event occurred outside Illinois
- the relevant information was not matched through the name inquiry
- the event did not result in a public conviction
For the actual criminal case, search the Illinois Circuit Court
Illinois Circuit Courts are the state’s courts of original jurisdiction. Illinois currently has 25 judicial circuits, and each county has an elected Circuit Clerk who preserves court files and maintains case records.
This means there is an important distinction:
State conviction history
Use when you want a statewide UCIA conviction-history response maintained by the Illinois State Police.
Actual court case
Use for criminal charges, case numbers, docket entries, orders, disposition, sentencing and copies.
How to find the correct Illinois county court
Illinois Courts DirectoryWhy county-level searching matters
Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, Lake County, McHenry County, St. Clair County and Will County are single-county judicial circuits. Other Illinois judicial circuits include multiple counties. Regardless of circuit structure, the county Circuit Clerk is a key custodian of trial-court case records.
What re:SearchIL can and cannot do
Illinois uses re:SearchIL as part of its electronic court-record system. Public access has expanded over time, but trial-court and reviewing-court access should not be confused.
Since May 1, 2025, the Illinois Supreme Court has allowed free remote public access through re:SearchIL to qualifying non-confidential documents in Supreme Court and Appellate Court matters, particularly documents filed on or after April 1, 2025.
Open re:SearchILRecords that may remain unavailable remotely
Confidential matters, juvenile cases and documents subject to court confidentiality rules are not automatically made available through public remote access.
Arrest and police records are different from ISP conviction records
If you are looking for an arrest report, incident report or investigative file, the most useful source is usually the law-enforcement agency that created the record.
That may be:
- city police department
- county sheriff
- Illinois State Police
- university police department
- another public law-enforcement agency
Use Illinois FOIA for agency records — not as a workaround for criminal-history restrictions
The Illinois Freedom of Information Act can be used to request many government records, including certain law-enforcement records, subject to statutory exemptions and redactions.
Illinois State Police specifically lists criminal background information as a record category that already has its own established public-access process. ISP says those records generally will not be supplied through FOIA when they can reasonably be accessed through the designated system.
ISP FOIA response timing
ISP’s current FOIA guidance says non-commercial requests generally receive a response within 5 business days, subject to an authorized additional 5-business-day extension or another mutually agreed date.
Current copy-cost rule
ISP states that the first 50 black-and-white letter/legal-size pages are free. Beginning with page 51, the current listed charge is $0.15 per page. Different formats can involve actual reproduction costs.
How to see your own Illinois criminal-history record
If your intent is “what exactly is on my Illinois record?” do not rely on repeated public name searches. Use the Illinois Access & Review process.
This is a fingerprint-based process that allows the subject to obtain their own Illinois criminal-history transcript.
Visit an eligible fingerprint source
ISP says an individual may use an Illinois law-enforcement agency, correctional facility or licensed fingerprint vendor during its regular business hours.
Request Access & Review
Make clear that you are requesting your own Illinois criminal-history transcript through the Access & Review process.
Provide fingerprints and identifying information
The agency or vendor submits the fingerprint package to the Illinois State Police.
Receive your transcript
ISP sends the criminal-history transcript or a written statement that no criminal history was found.
Use the Record Challenge form if needed
The Access & Review packet includes a challenge process for information you believe is wrong or incomplete.
How to correct an inaccurate Illinois criminal-history record
Your Access & Review results include a Record Challenge process. Use it when a record appears to contain incorrect or incomplete information.
Examples include:
- wrong disposition
- missing dismissal or acquittal
- record associated with the wrong person
- incorrect personal identifiers
- duplicated criminal-history information
- court outcome not properly reflected