A Rock Falls man convicted in late 2025 of severely beating his 61-year-old neighbor is challenging his guilty verdict and 7-year prison sentence, arguing he was denied a fair trial due to Whiteside County’s previous systemic exclusion of qualified jurors from the jury pool.

A Lee County judge Thursday granted pretrial, conditional release to a Rock Falls woman facing nine sex-related charges that accuse her of sexually assaulting, abusing and exploiting minors.

A Lee County judge Thursday denied the release of a Dixon man charged with the sexual exploitation and assault of a child, despite his attorney’s arguments that prosecutors did not meet their burden of proof.

A Sterling man with a history of speeding convictions is now accused of fleeing police and driving over 100 miles per hour on Riverdale Road on March 31 near Rock Falls.

A Lee County judge set an April 15 hearing for Plano man facing several drug and domestic battery charges in Lee and Dupage counties.

A Sterling man has been charged in Whiteside County with possessing child sexual abuse material.

A Dixon man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to several aggravated domestic battery charges, including some that accuse him of strangulation and great bodily harm.

A Dixon man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to one count of criminal neglect/abuse of an elderly person, a Class 3 felony.

A Lee County judge sentenced a Wisconsin man on March 19 to a maximum of 12 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two felony charges tied to a 2022 police chase in which an Illinois state trooper was shot at, but not injured.