Reviewed and updated October 4, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link on this page was opened and checked against the office's own website at review time.
Madison is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, with about 285,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its public records are split between the city and the county. The city keeps police reports, council records and its own licenses and permits; court cases, jail bookings, deeds and vital records are county or state records. This guide names the Madison offices SearchSystems verified, links to each one's own website and gives the phone number and address where the office publishes them. SearchSystems verified 3 city office pages for Madison, every one opened and checked.
In this guide: City or county, City Clerk, Police records, City Hall, Records requests, Other cities and Questions.
City or county record: where Madison records are kept
- Kept by the City of Madison: police reports, council and board meeting records, ordinances and the city's own licenses and permits.
- Kept by Dane County or the state: court cases, jail bookings, deeds and property values and birth and death certificates. These are not city records; they are in the Dane County public records guide under court records, jail lookups, property records and vital records.
Madison City Clerk: council records and ordinances
The City Clerk keeps the official records of the city government: council and board agendas and minutes, ordinances and resolutions, and the city's contracts and other official documents. The office below is the one SearchSystems verified for Madison.
- Website: cityofmadison.com/clerk/about/public-records (page title: Public Records | Clerk's Office | City of Madison, WI)
- Phone: (608) 266-4910
- Address: 210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd Room 105, City-County Building Madison, WI 53703
- Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Madison police reports and records
Incident reports, crash reports and the other records of the Madison police are requested from the department's records unit, usually in writing or through an online form. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted, and some states limit crash reports to the people involved and their insurers. The page below is the one SearchSystems verified for Madison police records.
- Website: cityofmadison.com/police/data-records (page title: Data & Records | Police | City of Madison, WI)
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Jail bookings and inmate lookups are usually handled by the county, not the city police. They are in the Dane County public records guide under jail and inmate lookups.
Madison City Hall: departments, licenses and permits
Business licenses, building permits, code enforcement cases and the city's other records are kept by the department that issued them. The city's own website below lists its departments and how to reach them.
- Website: cityofmadison.com/city-hall (page title: City Hall | City of Madison, WI)
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Public records requests to Madison
Wisconsin public records law applies to the city government of Madison. A record that is not posted online is requested from the office that holds it: the City Clerk for council and city records, the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. A request that names a date, an address, or a report or case number is the easiest to answer.
Other cities and towns in Dane County
SearchSystems has a guide like this one for these other cities and towns in Dane County. The Dane County public records guide covers the records the county keeps for all of them.
Madison Arrest Records
The Madison arrest records guide covers the agency that reports Madison's arrests to the FBI and the 8,274 arrests it reported for 2025. It also says where a person arrested in Madison is held, how to find out about an arrest and how to get a copy of the report.
Madison Records Guides
SearchSystems has nine more guides to Madison, each written from the city's own offices and figures: Madison warrants (who issues and serves them, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one), Madison inmate search (the jail page of the Dane County Sheriff's Office, the jail numbers and who books people), Madison criminal records (the court file, the Wisconsin criminal history and the local arrest records), Madison court records (which court hears what, the case search and who keeps the files), Madison police reports (which agency holds a report and what the Wisconsin Public Records Law requires), Madison traffic tickets (which court takes the ticket, who writes them and the driving record), Madison DUI (the OWI law, the arrest, the court case and the license case), Madison divorce records (which court holds the file and how a certified copy is had) and Madison property records (deeds, assessed values, permits and evictions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official Madison website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records directory, online since 1997. It links to the official Madison offices listed above, and the city's own website is cityofmadison.com; SearchSystems does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.
How do I get a police report in Madison?
Request it from the Madison police records unit at cityofmadison.com/police/data-records. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted.
Where do I find Madison city council minutes and ordinances?
From the City Clerk at cityofmadison.com/clerk/about/public-records, phone (608) 266-4910. The office keeps the official agendas and minutes, ordinances and resolutions.
Where do I find court records or jail bookings for Madison?
Madison cases are heard by the courts that serve Dane County, and people arrested in Madison are usually booked into the county jail. Both are covered in the Dane County public records guide on SearchSystems.
How do I request a public record from Madison?
From the office that holds it: the City Clerk for council and city records, the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. Wisconsin public records law applies to city governments.