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Choose the Right Mercer Office

A current custody question belongs with the jail. A county booking record or photo request belongs with the Sheriff’s written FOIA process. A city police department may hold the arrest report, while Mercer Judici holds the court case and final disposition. These are official routing details, not services provided by this private site.

Written FOIA requests to the Sheriff may be sent by email, fax, mail, or personal delivery. The optional form and instructions are on the Sheriff’s FOIA page. The first 50 black-and-white letter or legal pages are free, and each page after that is 15 cents. The Illinois FOIA framework uses a five-business-day response period, with extensions or exemptions possible. 5 ILCS 140/2.15 also addresses qualifying arrest information, but neither rule guarantees that a photo will be posted online or released without review.

For a booking record or photo, identify the person, a booking number if known, and a narrow date range. Ask for the arrest or booking record and the photograph as separate items, and request the non-exempt portions if something is withheld. For current custody, call the jail before relying on a dated story or an unofficial index.

• Use the Mercer County search and records page for the jail phone fallback, the booking-record request path, court links, and the distinction between a current jail record and a later state or federal record.
• For a wanted listing or warrant question, use Most Wanted Fugitives for the county’s check-and-resolve path. It is not a promise that this private service can confirm a warrant.
• For an Aledo police record, contact Aledo Police at 200 NE 2nd Street, 309-582-2331. Its official page does not show a daily public arrest log. The city’s FOIA form is the records-request route.
• For a Viola police record, use Viola’s official information and services page. It lists the police department at 1305 17th Avenue, 309-596-4111, and the village FOIA route at angel.erhart@thevillageofviola.org; no public booking log was located.
• For an Alexis police record, use the Alexis village staff page and ask for Chief Ross Hall at 309-482-5537. Alexis crosses Mercer and Warren counties, so confirm the county and records custodian before assuming Mercer County Jail holds the booking.
• For a case number, arraignment, bond entry, or disposition, search Mercer Judici or contact the Mercer County Circuit Clerk at 309-582-7122. The court record is separate from the jail booking record.
• For sentenced state custody, use the Illinois Department of Corrections search. For federal sentenced custody use the BOP locator, and for eligible immigration custody use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. These systems do not replace a Mercer jail call.