Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Burlington, Wisconsin, in Racine County, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Racine County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Burlington public records, Racine County arrest records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Burlington
The FBI lists Burlington with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Burlington Police Department. It reported 369 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Racine County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 650 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Burlington Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Burlington: 369 for 2025, 405 for 2024, 402 for 2023, 303 for 2022, 349 for 2021 and 453 for 2020.
Burlington's 369 arrests in 2025 were down 8.9 percent from 405 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Burlington reported 59 arrests, against 112 in the same months of 2025.
Across Racine County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,220 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Burlington Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Burlington and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 570 people, down from about 740 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 876 beds, and it ran at 66 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Racine County Sheriff's Office at rcj-web.goracine.org (page title: Racine County | Inmate Locator), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at appsdoc.wi.gov/lop/welcome.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Burlington
An arrest in Burlington can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Racine County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the free statewide case search of every circuit court, which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at racinecounty.gov/departments/district-attorney, phone 262-636-3172).
Wisconsin is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Wisconsin Online Record Check System lets anyone run a name-based check, through the Wisconsin Department of Justice. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Burlington
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Wisconsin Public Records Law the agency must answer as soon as practicable and without delay; the law sets no number of days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying and locating, with no charge for the first $50 of locating.
- An arrest by the Burlington police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at burlington-wi.gov/m/faq?cat=15#question-62 (page title: FAQs | CivicPlus.CMS.FAQ), phone 262.342.1100, 224 E. Jefferson St. Burlington, WI 53105, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Racine County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 262-636-3172, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at racinecounty.nextrequest.com (page title: Public Records Request PortalNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Racine County guide covers every agency in the county: Racine County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Burlington each year?
Burlington reported 369 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Burlington?
Look on the custody page of the Racine County Sheriff's Office at rcj-web.goracine.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Burlington booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Racine County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Burlington?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Wisconsin Department of Justice: the Wisconsin Online Record Check System lets anyone run a name-based check. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Wisconsin Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Burlington?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Burlington police for its own arrests, the Racine County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Wisconsin Public Records Law the answer is due as soon as practicable and without delay; the law sets no number of days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at racinecounty.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Burlington website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.