Illinois's court, criminal, vital, property, voter, and licensing records are maintained across state agencies and the 102 counties listed below. Use the tabs to filter by record type, or jump directly to any source.
- Courts: The Illinois Supreme Court sits at the top of the system; trial-court business is handled by the Circuit Court (24 circuits). Most courts publish dockets and case lookups online.
- Criminal history: Official background checks run through the Illinois State Police - Bureau of Identification; the Illinois criminal records page covers the current fee and request process.
- Vital records: Birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates are issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health and may also be available locally.
- Property & recorded documents: Maintained at the county level by the Assessor, Recorder, or Clerk's office.
- Business filings: the Illinois Secretary of State operates the official business-entity search.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2024 Population Estimates Program; 2022 ACS 5-year)
Illinois Public Records at a Glance
Illinois never built one court portal, and Cook County alone generates more case volume than most states, so geography decides your search path: our Illinois court records page separates the statewide index that now covers many circuit courts from the county clerks' own systems. The State Police run the criminal-history repository; Illinois requires consent forms for most criminal record checks rather than offering an open name-search. Birth and death certificates come from the Department of Public Health or the local county clerk. Recorders in all 102 counties keep deeds, and Cook County's free recorder index reaches back decades. The 358 sources below are all official.
Figures reflect sources indexed in this directory and the latest official reports. Content reviewed July 30, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Illinois Guides
Step-by-step pages for the searches people actually run:
Statewide Databases
358 official Illinois government databases. Click a tab to filter by record type.