Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Madison, Wisconsin, in Dane County, has about 285,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Wisconsin the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Wisconsin Department of Justice is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Madison is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Madison public records, Dane County criminal records, Madison arrest records, Madison warrants, Madison inmate search, Madison court records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Dane County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Madison is filed in the Dane County Circuit Court, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at da.danecounty.gov/Court-Process/Records-and-Fines (page title: Records and Fines | The Dane County District Attorney's Office), phone (608) 266-4311, 215 S. Hamilton St. #1000 Madison WI 53703-3285, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the free statewide case search of every circuit court.
The Wisconsin Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Madison
The Dane County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Madison (filed by the FBI as Madison Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Madison: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Dane County: the University of Wisconsin at Madison (campus police); the Capitol Police (state agency); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Edgerton Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Dane County, so its arrests are not broken out for Dane County here.
Together, the 17 agencies in Dane County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,821 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Madison arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Madison in 2025
The agency that reports for Madison had 616 violent and 5,421 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The District Attorney for Dane County
The District Attorney decides which arrests in Dane County become charges and files them in the Dane County Circuit Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at da.danecounty.gov (page title: The Dane County District Attorney's Office), phone (608) 266-9150, 215 S. Hamilton St. #3000 Madison, WI 53703-3297, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Madison
Registered sex offenders living in Madison are listed on the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry, run by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at wistaysafe.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Dane County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Wisconsin Public Records Law a county office must answer a request 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at danecounty.gov/record-requests (page title: Public Record Requests | Dane County, Wisconsin).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Madison?
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.
Can I search Madison criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at da.danecounty.gov (page title: Records and Fines | The Dane County District Attorney's Office). Statewide, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the free statewide case search of every circuit court.
How do I get my own Wisconsin criminal history?
Through the same record check, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Madison?
The District Attorney, reached at (608) 266-9150, which files its cases in the Dane County Circuit Court.
Is this the official Madison 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.