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 Mills, Wisconsin, in Jefferson County, has about 6,600 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 Jefferson 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 Mills public records, Jefferson County arrest records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Lake Mills
The FBI lists Lake Mills with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Lake Mills Police Department. It reported 168 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 552 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Lake Mills 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 Mills: 168 for 2025, 163 for 2024, 177 for 2023, 205 for 2022, 266 for 2021 and 154 for 2020.
Lake Mills's 168 arrests in 2025 were up 3.1 percent from 163 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Lake Mills reported 50 arrests, against 41 in the same months of 2025.
Across Jefferson County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,876 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lake Mills Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lake Mills 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 110 people, down from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 229 beds, and it ran at 50 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Lake Mills
An arrest in Lake Mills can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Jefferson County Circuit Court, kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jeffersoncountywi.gov/courts___legal_services/district_attorney/ind..., phone 920-674-7220).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at jeffersoncounty.wisconsincourt.us/index.html (page title: Jefferson County Court | Records Search), phone 920-674-7150, belongs to a lower court, not to the Jefferson County Circuit Court.
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 Mills
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 Mills police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityoflakemillswi.gov/policecontact (page title: City of Lake Mills | Contact the Police Department), phone (920) 674-7310, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 920-674-7220, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Jefferson County Circuit Court it is kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at jeffersoncounty.wisconsincourt.us/index.html, phone 920-674-7150, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountywi.gov (page title: Jefferson County Open Records).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Jefferson County guide covers every agency in the county: Jefferson County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lake Mills each year?
Lake Mills reported 168 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Lake Mills booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lake Mills?
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 Mills?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lake Mills police for its own arrests, the Jefferson 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 jeffersoncountywi.gov.
Is this the official Lake Mills 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.