Ford County Criminal Court Records Search

Ford County criminal court records are held by Circuit Court Clerk Kasi Schwarz in Paxton, Illinois, and are available online through the Judici case search platform and the statewide re:SearchIL portal. This page explains how to find records, what is public, and how to get certified documents from the Paxton courthouse.

How to Find Ford County Criminal Records Online

Ford County is part of the Judici network. Go to judici.com and select Ford County. You can search by name or case number at no cost. Results show the case type, charges, hearing schedule, and final disposition. Judici updates from the clerk's data system in Paxton, so recently filed cases typically show up quickly after entry. It is the fastest way to do an initial check on whether a criminal case exists in Ford County.

Re:SearchIL is the Illinois Courts' statewide portal, which opened for free public access on May 1, 2025. It covers Ford County among others. Visit researchil.tylerhost.net to search by name, case number, or attorney. Basic case information is open without logging in. For filed documents, a free account may be needed. Re:SearchIL is useful when you want to search across multiple Illinois counties at once or need to pull up actual documents rather than just case summaries.

Ford County is part of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. The circuit covers a handful of central Illinois counties, and cases within those counties are handled by their respective circuit clerks. The Illinois Courts website links to the full clerk directory at illinoiscourts.gov.

The circuit clerks directory page shown below lists every county clerk in Illinois, including Kasi Schwarz for Ford County in Paxton.

The directory is the best way to confirm current contact details for the Ford County clerk and for any neighboring county clerks you may also need to reach.

Ford County Circuit Court Clerk

Kasi Schwarz is the Ford County Circuit Court Clerk. Her office is at 200 West State, Paxton, IL 60957-0080. The phone is 217/379-9420 and the fax is 217/379-9429.

The clerk's office holds all criminal case files for Ford County. Staff can look up a case by name or number, confirm whether a record exists, and handle requests for certified copies. A certified copy of a court disposition is the most common type of records request. These documents are used in background checks, professional license applications, immigration cases, and court proceedings in other states.

The fee applies when you want physical copies. Inspecting public court records in person is free under 705 ILCS 105, the Clerks of Courts Act. Bring valid photo ID when you visit the Paxton courthouse. For older or archived cases, calling ahead at 217/379-9420 can save time, especially for files that may need to be pulled from off-site storage before your visit.

What Ford County Criminal Court Records Contain

A criminal court file in Ford County includes the charging document, all motions from both sides, a log of every court date and ruling, and the final judgment. For felony cases, the file will typically include the sentencing order and often a written plea agreement. Presentence investigation reports are part of many felony files, though they are not always available for unrestricted public inspection depending on the case and local court practice.

Illinois treats court records as presumptively public under 705 ILCS 86, the Court Record and Document Accessibility Act. That presumption covers most criminal cases filed in Ford County. The exceptions are consistent across all Illinois counties: juvenile cases are sealed by law, expunged records are removed from public access, records sealed by court order are not available, and personal identifiers like Social Security numbers are redacted before any document is made public. Grand jury materials are excluded from the open file.

Courts are exempt from FOIA under Illinois law. The judiciary exemption in 5 ILCS 140 means you cannot submit a FOIA request to the Ford County circuit clerk. Access follows court rules, not FOIA procedures. For adult criminal cases, this still leaves most records open to the public by default.

ISP Bureau of Identification and Statewide Records

The Illinois State Police Bureau of Identification operates a statewide criminal conviction database that includes Ford County records. ISP BOI is the right tool when you need a broad view of someone's Illinois criminal history across all counties, not just a record from one case in Paxton. Instructions and request forms are at isp.illinois.gov/BureauOfIdentification. The main ISP BOI phone number is 815/740-5160.

Individuals can request their own criminal history from ISP BOI for free. That right exists under the Illinois Uniform Conviction Information Act. It is a practical option for anyone who wants to see exactly what state records exist under their name before they come up in a job or licensing background check.

ISP BOI gives you a statewide picture. For case documents and certified records tied to Ford County, the clerk in Paxton is the right contact.

Using Judici to Look Up Ford County Cases

Judici.com is a private platform that operates under data agreements with Illinois courts. It is free for basic searches. Ford County is one of the 82 participating counties. When you search by name on Judici, you get a list of cases in that county associated with the person. Clicking into a case shows charges, court dates, and the outcome. It is fast and requires no account.

Judici does not carry every case. Sealed records and juvenile matters do not appear. Some older archived cases may not be in the database either. If your search on Judici comes up empty, that does not always mean the case does not exist. Call the Ford County clerk at 217/379-9420 to confirm. Staff can tell you whether a record is in the system and what options you have for accessing it.

For attorneys filing documents in active Ford County cases, the eFileIL portal at efile.illinoiscourts.gov handles electronic submissions. This keeps case data current in both Judici and re:SearchIL. It is not a public search tool, but it is part of what makes online case lookups work across Illinois courts.

Legal Resources for Ford County Residents

Illinois Legal Aid Online at illinoislegalaid.org has free guides for Ford County residents on expungement, record sealing, and how to request copies of court records. The site explains eligibility for expungement in plain language, covers the forms you need to file, and walks through what happens at a sealing or expungement hearing. It is built for people without a lawyer.

Illinois Court Help at ilcourthelp.gov is the state's self-help site for court users. It covers the criminal process step by step and explains what to expect at each type of hearing. Ford County residents can use it to understand how the Paxton courthouse handles cases and what terminology means in a criminal context.

Federal criminal cases involving Ford County residents go through the Central District of Illinois. Federal records are separate from state court records and live in the PACER system at pacer.uscourts.gov. There is a small per-page fee for PACER, though it is waived when quarterly usage is under $30.

Nearby Illinois Counties

Ford County is a small north-central Illinois county. Cases are filed in the county where the offense occurred. These neighboring county clerks can confirm whether a case was filed in their system.