Find Champaign Police Records

Police records in Champaign are held by the Champaign Police Department for incidents inside city limits and by the Champaign County Sheriff for calls in the unincorporated parts of the county. Champaign sits next to Urbana, and together they form the main urban area of Champaign County. The two cities have separate police departments. If you are looking for a report, make sure you know which city the incident was in. This page covers how to get police records from Champaign PD, the county sheriff, and the state.

Champaign County Records

Champaign falls in Champaign County. The county seat is Urbana, not Champaign, which is something that confuses people from out of town. The Champaign County Sheriff's Office is at 204 E. Main Street, Urbana, IL 61801. Call (217) 384-1204. For FOIA requests, email SheriffFOIA@co.champaign.il.us. They also have a downloadable FOIA request form on their website.

The sheriff covers unincorporated Champaign County and runs the county jail. If the event happened outside Champaign city limits but still in the county, the sheriff likely took that call. Inside city limits, Champaign PD owns the report.

Champaign County Circuit Clerk Susan McGrath manages court records at 101 East Main Street, Urbana, IL 61801. Phone: (217) 384-3725. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Champaign Circuit Clerk website has information on case searches and court filings. Criminal cases that begin with a Champaign arrest wind up in the circuit clerk's system.

Requesting Police Records

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/) gives you the right to request police records from any public body in the state. Champaign PD processes FOIA requests through the city. The sheriff handles requests separately through their office in Urbana.

Your request needs to be in writing. Include your name, a way to reach you, and a clear description of what records you want. Provide dates, names, addresses, and any case or report numbers. Broad requests get flagged and can take longer. Be specific and you will get results faster.

The agency has five business days to respond. They can stretch that to ten. If they deny the request, the denial must cite a specific FOIA exemption. You can appeal through the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor. This is a free process.

The screenshot below shows the Champaign County Circuit Clerk's website, where you can look up court records tied to criminal cases in the area.

Keep in mind that the circuit clerk has court files, not police reports. For the actual police report, go to Champaign PD or the sheriff.

Fees and Costs

First 50 pages are free. State law. After that, $0.15 per page for black and white. Color copies cost more. Pay by check or money order. Credit cards are not accepted for FOIA fees.

No fee to submit. You pay when records are ready. The agency tells you the cost first. You can narrow the request to stay under the 50-page free limit if you need to. Just ask for the most important documents and skip the supplemental pages.

If your request is for a commercial purpose, disclose that upfront. FOIA requires it. Most personal requests do not trigger this requirement. But if you are requesting records for a business reason, the law says you must say so. Failure to disclose can lead to fines and denial of future requests.

Criminal Background Checks

Champaign PD does not run background checks. The Champaign County Sheriff does not either, at least not for the general public. Criminal history is handled at the state level by the Illinois State Police Bureau of Identification at 260 North Chicago Street, Joliet, IL. Phone: (815) 740-5160.

Under the Uniform Conviction Information Act (20 ILCS 2635/), only conviction records are public. Arrests that did not result in a conviction are sealed from public view. The Criminal Identification Act (20 ILCS 2630/) spells out who has access and the conditions for release.

Name-based checks use CHIRP. You register online and search by name. Fingerprint-based checks go through Live Scan vendors. There are several in the Champaign-Urbana area. To review your own file, the ISP Access and Review program costs nothing. Use it to check for errors or outdated information.

State Police in Champaign

ISP Troop 7 covers Champaign County. Troopers patrol I-57, I-72, I-74, and state routes in the area. If a state trooper handled the incident, the report sits with ISP. This comes up with highway crashes and accidents on the interstate system near Champaign.

Crash reports cost $5 from ISP. Order online at isp.illinois.gov/CrashReports or mail a check to the Patrol Records Unit, 801 South 7th Street, Suite 600-M, Springfield, IL 62703. Reports come redacted. An unredacted copy needs a court order.

For other ISP records, contact FOIA Officer Sarah Wheeler at ISP.FOIA.Officer@illinois.gov. Same fee structure: first 50 pages free, then $0.15 per page. Check or money order. The Sex Offender Registry covers all of Illinois, including Champaign, at sor.isp.illinois.gov.

Nearby Cities

These cities in central Illinois have their own police departments and records processes.