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 October 4, 2026.
Columbus, Wisconsin, in Columbia County, has about 5,400 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 Columbia 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: Columbus public records, Columbia County arrest records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Columbus
The FBI lists Columbus with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Columbus Police Department. It reported 83 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 Columbia County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,649 arrests for 2024.
How Many Arrests Columbus 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.
- Columbus: 83 for 2025, 111 for 2024, 77 for 2023, 128 for 2022, 138 for 2021 and 146 for 2020.
Columbus's 83 arrests in 2025 were down 25 percent from 111 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Columbus reported 15 arrests, against 17 in the same months of 2025.
Across Columbia County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 2,778 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Columbus Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Columbus is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 140 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 336 beds, and it ran at 41 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 Columbia County Sheriff's Office at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/sheriff/Sheriffs-Office/Jail-Bookings (page title: Columbia County Sheriff's Office | Jail Bookings), 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Wisconsin Department of Corrections lists its inmates at appsdoc.wi.gov/lop/welcome.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Columbus
Whether someone was arrested in Columbus, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Columbia County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/clerkofcourts, phone 800-362-9082); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/da, phone (608) 742-9650).
Statewide, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the free statewide case search of every circuit court.
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 Columbus
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 Columbus police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at columbuswi.gov/FormCenter/Employment-Forms-3/Request-for-Public-Rec... (page title: Form Center, Request for Public Records), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (608) 742-9650, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Columbia County Circuit Court, through the court records page at co.columbia.wi.us, phone 800-362-9082.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Columbia County guide covers every agency in the county: Columbia County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Columbus each year?
Columbus reported 83 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Columbus?
Look on the custody page of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office at co.columbia.wi.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Columbus booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Columbus?
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 Columbus?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Columbus police for its own arrests, the Columbia 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.
Is this the official Columbus 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.