State Resources
Illinois
No statewide case search — 102 counties, each its own. But Cook County alone is 40% of the state, and the Illinois State Police will sell anyone a conviction record check. Between those two you cover most Illinois work.
At a glance
| Record | Held by | Cost | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and entity search | Secretary of State — Business Services | Free to search | Yes |
| UCC filings | Secretary of State — UCC Division | Fee for official searches | Yes |
| Professional licenses | Department of Financial and Professional Regulation | Free | Yes |
| Property and land records | County recorder and county assessor | Free online in most large counties | By county |
| Court records | 102 circuit court clerks | Free in most large counties | By county |
| Criminal records | Illinois State Police — UCIA | $16 paper, $10 electronic | Yes |
| Vital records | Department of Public Health, Vital Records | Certified copies carry a fee | Yes |
| Unclaimed property | State Treasurer — I-CASH | Free | Yes |
| Voter and resident records | State Board of Elections | Free | Yes |
Worth knowing about Illinois
Cook County is 40% of Illinois
Illinois has 102 circuit court clerks and no unified public search, which sounds like a Texas-scale problem. The population distribution makes it much smaller than it looks.
Cook County — Chicago and inner suburbs — holds roughly 40% of everyone in Illinois, and the Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest unified court system in the United States. Add the collar counties — DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry — and you have around two thirds of the state in six searches.
Cook publishes free online case search across its divisions. The collar counties each have their own, mostly free.
Downstate is genuinely fragmented, and some rural circuit clerks publish nothing. There the clerk by phone is the answer, and Illinois clerks are generally cooperative.
Remember Cook is divided into divisions — civil, criminal, chancery, domestic relations, probate, traffic — plus suburban municipal districts. Searching one division isn’t searching Cook County.
UCIA: anyone can order a conviction check
Illinois has the Uniform Conviction Information Act, which makes conviction information available to any requester — not just employers, not just with consent.
A name-based check through the Illinois State Police costs $16 submitted on paper and $10 electronically. It returns conviction information only.
The word conviction is doing the work there. Arrests that didn’t result in conviction aren’t disclosed under UCIA, and Illinois is strict about that distinction — the statute exists partly to stop non-conviction data circulating.
A name-based check is also expressly not guaranteed accurate, because it matches on identifiers rather than fingerprints. Illinois says so on the form. Confirm anything you get against the circuit court docket.
Record by record
Business and entity search
Open business search →- Held by
- Secretary of State — Business Services
- Cost
- Free to search
Free entity search returning status, formation date, registered agent and the registered office.
Illinois requires an annual report. The free search shows less detail than some states — a certificate of good standing or a detailed report carries a fee.
UCC filings
Open Business Services →- Held by
- Secretary of State — UCC Division
- Cost
- Fee for official searches
UCC financing statements filed centrally with the Secretary of State. A UCC-1 names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral, and the secured party is usually a lender.
Illinois is a major agricultural filing state downstate — expect equipment, grain and land-improvement collateral described in useful detail.
Professional licenses
Open IDFPR →- Held by
- Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
- Cost
- Free
A single department covering most Illinois professional and occupational licenses, with free verification returning name, status, dates and disciplinary action.
Property and land records
- Held by
- County recorder and county assessor
- Cost
- Free online in most large counties
No statewide property search. The county recorder holds documents and the assessor holds ownership and value across 102 counties.
Cook County’s Assessor, Clerk and Recorder systems are all free and deep, and Cook publishes an unusually rich set of property data. The collar counties are good too.
Watch for the homeowner exemption on the tax record — it is the county’s own record of whether the owner claims the property as a primary residence.
Court records
Open Illinois Courts →- Held by
- 102 circuit court clerks
- Cost
- Free in most large counties
No statewide public case search. Cook County plus the five collar counties covers roughly two thirds of the population — see above.
Cook County is divided into divisions and municipal districts. Search the right division, and remember that eviction sits in the municipal or civil division rather than with the felony docket.
Criminal records
Open criminal history →- Held by
- Illinois State Police — UCIA
- Cost
- $16 paper, $10 electronic
Conviction information, available to any requester under the Uniform Conviction Information Act. Name-based or fingerprint-based.
Non-conviction arrest data isn’t disclosed. Illinois treats that as a feature rather than a gap.
Vital records
Open vital records →- Held by
- Department of Public Health, Vital Records
- Cost
- Certified copies carry a fee
Births, deaths and marriages from the state office, with county clerks also issuing. Illinois restricts certified copies to people with a direct interest.
Illinois marriage records are held by the county clerk where the license was issued, and many county clerks publish a searchable index free.
Unclaimed property
Open I-CASH →- Held by
- State Treasurer — I-CASH
- Cost
- Free
Free name search. The holder named on a reported item is a confirmed bank, insurer or employer relationship with a last known address.
Voter and resident records
Open registration lookup →- Held by
- State Board of Elections
- Cost
- Free
Individual registration lookup confirming status and jurisdiction. Illinois restricts the bulk voter file to governmental and political purposes.
Public records requests in Illinois
- Statute
- 5 ILCS 140 (Freedom of Information Act)
- Response deadline
- Five business days, extendable by five
- Appeal to
- Public Access Counselor, Attorney General
- Appeal window
- 60 days from the denial
Five business days to respond, with one five-day extension the agency must claim in writing and justify.
Illinois has a Public Access Counselor in the Attorney General’s office, and it is one of the better ones in the country. It reviews denials, issues binding opinions in some cases and advisory ones in others, and it costs nothing to use.
File within 60 days of the denial. That window is strict.
Be careful with the commercial purpose provision: a request made for commercial purposes gets 21 working days instead of five, and you are required to say so if asked. An investigation for a client is a grey area — answer honestly if the question comes.
No residency requirement. A prevailing requester recovers attorney fees, and civil penalties are available for wilful violations.
What Illinois will not give you
- Non-conviction arrest data. Not disclosed under UCIA. Illinois protects it deliberately.
- Expunged and sealed records. Illinois sealing is broad. Sealed cases leave the public index.
- Driver and vehicle records. Closed under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
- Juvenile records. Not public.
- A statewide case search. Does not exist. 102 separate circuit clerks.
Course
Investigating with PACER and Court Records
Illinois has 102 separate circuit clerks and no statewide search. Federal court records are the opposite — one system, nationwide, carrying bankruptcies and judgments no Illinois county search will ever show you.
See the court records courseRelated
- Indiana — free statewide MyCase next door
- Wisconsin — CCAP, free and deep
- Missouri — Case.net across the river
- Appealing a public records denial
- UCC filings name the lender
Fees and procedures verified August 2026. Clerks change their counter rules more often than the statutes change — call before you drive.