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 26, 2026.
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in Walworth County, has about 8,700 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 Walworth 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: Lake Geneva public records, Walworth County arrest records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Lake Geneva
The FBI lists Lake Geneva with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Lake Geneva Police Department. It reported 688 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 Walworth County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,544 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Walworth County: the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater (campus police).
How Many Arrests Lake Geneva Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Lake Geneva: 688 for 2025, 651 for 2024, 513 for 2023, 496 for 2022, 553 for 2021 and 396 for 2020.
Lake Geneva's 688 arrests in 2025 were up 5.7 percent from 651 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Lake Geneva reported 96 arrests, against 152 in the same months of 2025.
Across Walworth County, the 14 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,679 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lake Geneva Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lake Geneva 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 2025 the jail held about 160 people, down from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 512 beds, and it ran at 32 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Walworth County Sheriff's Office at co.walworth.wi.us/261/Corrections (page title: Corrections | Walworth County, WI), phone 262-741-4400, 1770 Cty Road NN Elkhorn, WI 53121, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Lake Geneva
An arrest in Lake Geneva can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Walworth County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.walworth.wi.us/339/Courts-Judicial-Center); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.walworth.wi.us/204/District-Attorney, phone 262-741-7198).
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 Lake Geneva
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 Lake Geneva police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityoflakegeneva.gov/218/Records (page title: Records | Lake Geneva WI), phone 262-248-4809, 626 Geneva Street Lake Geneva, WI 53147, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Walworth County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 262-741-4400.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 262-741-7198, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Walworth County Circuit Court, through the court records page at co.walworth.wi.us/339/Courts-Judicial-Center.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.walworth.wi.us/1169/Public-Records-Request (page title: Public Records Request | Walworth County, WI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Walworth County guide covers every agency in the county: Walworth County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lake Geneva each year?
Lake Geneva reported 688 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lake Geneva?
Ask the Walworth County Sheriff's Office at 262-741-4400; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.walworth.wi.us/261/Corrections.
Where are people arrested in Lake Geneva booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Walworth County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lake Geneva?
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 Lake Geneva?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lake Geneva police for its own arrests, the Walworth 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 co.walworth.wi.us/1169/Public-Records-Request.
Is this the official Lake Geneva 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.