Criminal Court Cases in Perry County
Illinois uses a unified Circuit Court, so Perry County felony, misdemeanor, traffic, and municipal-ordinance filings all reach the same trial-court system. There is no separate Perry County felony clerk and no municipal criminal court in Du Quoin, Pinckneyville, or Tamaroa. The Perry County Circuit Court sits in the 24th Judicial Circuit and the Fifth Appellate District.
Circuit Clerk Tricia Kelly Chandler is the custodian of Perry County criminal case files. Her office keeps the docket, filed charging papers, motions, orders, hearing entries, judgment, sentence, and court financial record. The County Clerk at the Government Building handles elections, land, vital records, and county administration, not criminal dockets. That clerk distinction saves a wasted trip.
Select Perry County in Judici
The official Perry County Courthouse directory routes public case searches to Judici. On Judici, choose Perry County from the participating-court menu and use the free one-county public access. Paid Courtlook and Multicourt products are not needed for a basic Perry County docket search.
The manifest image below shows the county-selection entry point. It helps readers recognize the correct official court channel before opening a result.
Once Perry County is selected, treat a name match as a lead rather than proof of identity. Confirm it with the case number, filing date, court, and other public details.
Perry County Case Record Searches
Start online for a public docket, but plan to use the Circuit Clerk when the desired document is old, archived, absent, certified, impounded, or otherwise restricted. Static research did not establish the exact downstream name and birth-date controls, so the safe method is to use only the fields Judici actually presents.
- Open Judici and select Perry County from the participating-court dropdown.
- Use the available public search controls, entering a party name or known case number when the interface permits.
- Compare the case category, filing date, court, and public identifiers before treating a result as the right person.
- Read each charge, docket event, disposition, sentence, and balance as a separate field.
- Call or visit the Perry County Circuit Clerk for complete, older, or certified documents and ask about any unavailable file.
| Field or control | Type | Required | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participating court/county | Dropdown | Yes | Select Perry County before entering the free public search. |
| Go/enter control | Button | Yes | Opens the selected county search. |
| Account/login | Account control | No | Basic county access is free; professional cross-county tools may require an account. |
Note: Exact result controls can change, so do not assume a name match identifies the correct Perry County case.
Certified Perry County Court Files
For a certified copy or a record that does not appear online, contact the Circuit Clerk at 1 Public Square, Floor 2, P.O. Box 219, Pinckneyville, IL 62274-0219. The phone is 618-357-6726, fax is 618-357-8336, and email is TChandler@perrycountyil.gov. Provide the case number if known, party name, approximate filing year, document title, and whether certification is needed.
Perry County Circuit Clerk
1 Public Square, Floor 2
P.O. Box 219
Pinckneyville, IL 62274-0219
Phone: 618-357-6726
Fax: 618-357-8336
The Illinois Courts courthouse directory provides the official building and access entry shown below.
This is the correct courthouse and clerk counter for Perry County criminal files, not the separate County Clerk office.
No dependable local copy or certification fee schedule was found in the research. Ask the clerk for the current amount and delivery options before ordering. Exempt paper filings are accepted during regular clerk business hours under the 24th Circuit local rules.
What a Criminal Case File Contains
A Perry County case file is a chronological judicial record. It may show the accusation first filed, later changes, hearings, rulings, and the final result. It does not supply the investigating officer's full narrative, and the presence of a charge does not establish a conviction.
| Case number and category | Identifies the Perry County proceeding and its court classification. |
|---|---|
| Party or litigant | Names public parties while protected identifying details may be withheld. |
| Criminal charge | Shows the filed accusation, which may differ from the booking charge. |
| Docket and minutes | Lists filings, court events, hearing dates, and short minute entries. |
| Disposition | Records the outcome of each count, such as conviction, dismissal, or acquittal. |
| Sentence | States the court-ordered consequence after a conviction. |
| Financial entries | May include fines, assessments, restitution, payments, and an outstanding balance. |
| Available documents | Shows images or filings released through public electronic access. |
Read Perry Charges and Outcomes Separately
Three fields often get blurred: charge, disposition, and sentence. A charge is the allegation presented to the court. A disposition is the result for that count. A sentence follows a conviction and states the consequence. A docket may retain a dismissed count, so readers should never stop at the first charge line.
- Disposition
- The outcome or current status resolving a charge.
- Nolle prosequi
- The prosecutor's formal decision not to continue a charge at that time.
- Dismissal
- Termination of a charge without a conviction on that count.
- Minute entry
- A short chronological court notation, not necessarily a downloadable pleading.
- Balance
- A financial amount due, not the criminal sentence itself.
Perry County financial entries can reflect fines, statutory assessments, restitution, bond-related entries, and payments. Read the judgment and sentence documents when the exact result matters.
Criminal Case Stages in Perry County
After law enforcement makes an arrest or a prosecutor begins a case, the filed matter moves through judicial stages. Illinois's SAFE-T Act changed pretrial-release practice, and the Perry court directory links a local order for remote SAFE-T hearings. Generic cash-bail instructions can therefore misstate the current process.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Charges may change before disposition. Motions and hearings can resolve access, evidence, release, or trial issues. An appeal from the Circuit Court goes to the Illinois Fifth Appellate District. Federal criminal matters are separate and belong in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, with federal docket access through PACER.
Judici Versus re:SearchIL for Perry
Judici is the locally linked starting point for Perry County public docket data. The statewide re:SearchIL Image Electronic Access to Case Records supplies another image and case-record layer, but it does not promise that every Perry County document is available.
The manifest view of re:SearchIL below illustrates that separate statewide channel.
Use Judici to identify the Perry County case, check re:SearchIL when a public image may be available, and contact the clerk for the authoritative copy. Portal absence is not proof that no case exists.
Perry County Court Offices and Roles
The 24th Judicial Circuit directory connects the court, prosecutor, probation, and Drug Court offices without merging their files. The Circuit Clerk maintains the case. The State's Attorney decides what Illinois-law charges to prosecute. Probation at 14 South Walnut Street maintains a supervision layer that is distinct from the public docket.
The manifest image from the circuit directory gives readers a view of this official office map.
A public case search should stay with the clerk and court portals. Prosecutor work files and defense files are not substitutes for the public Circuit Clerk record.
Access Rules for Case Records
The 24th Circuit local rules classify files as Public, Impounded, Confidential, Sealed, or Expunged. Public files are available on request. Authorized review of impounded, confidential, or sealed material occurs at the Circuit Clerk and may require party or attorney status or a court order. Expunged access is controlled by 20 ILCS 2630/5.2.
Illinois FOIA, 5 ILCS 140, governs agency records, but it does not require release of sealed, juvenile, private, or exempt material. Court-file access also follows judicial rules and court orders.
Online views may omit protected identifiers, juvenile material, victim information, sealed records, or documents not imaged for public access. If a Perry County case is missing, ask the Circuit Clerk whether it is archived, restricted, or indexed differently. The 2025 Access to Justice grant funded self-represented-litigant computers, a kiosk, signage, and public Westlaw improvements at the courthouse, offering an on-site research route when remote access falls short.
A person authorized to review an impounded, confidential, or sealed Perry County file generally must do so in person and may need to show party or attorney status or obtain a court order. Public portal access does not override those classifications. Likewise, Illinois FOIA does not compel the clerk or another office to create a new summary, answer a legal question, or release exempt investigative material. Ask for a named document or a defined part of the file whenever possible.
When the goal is to correct or clear one's own record, first obtain the accurate Perry County case number and the disposition for every count. Illinois Courts publishes approved expungement and sealing forms, but eligibility and access effects depend on the actual case outcome. A portal entry alone may omit the paper needed for that review, so the clerk's certified or complete record remains the sound source.
Note: A missing online Perry County docket can reflect access status, age, or indexing and does not prove the case never existed.