SearchSystems Editorial

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 30, 2026.

About this guide

Menasha, Wisconsin, in Winnebago County, has about 18,000 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 Winnebago 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: Menasha public records, Winnebago County arrest records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.

Who Makes Arrests in Menasha

The FBI lists Menasha with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Menasha Police Department. It reported 723 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 Winnebago County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 590 arrests for 2025.

The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Winnebago County: the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh (campus police).

How Many Arrests Menasha 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.

  • Menasha: 723 for 2025, 858 for 2024, 766 for 2023, 758 for 2022, 646 for 2021 and 680 for 2020.

Menasha's 723 arrests in 2025 were down 16 percent from 858 in 2024.

Through March 2026, Menasha reported 135 arrests, against 169 in the same months of 2025.

Across Winnebago County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,932 arrests between them.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Menasha Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Menasha 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 250 people, down from about 280 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 355 beds, and it ran at 70 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 Winnebago County Sheriff's Office at inmates.winnebagosheriff.com (page title: Winnebago County Sheriff's Office -- Inmate Inquiry), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Menasha

An arrest in Menasha can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the free statewide case search of every circuit court, which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at winnebagocountywi.gov/291/District-Attorney).

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 Menasha

An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Menasha police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at menashawi.gov/departments/police/forms.php (page title: City of Menasha, WI), phone (920) 967-3500, 430 First Street, Menasha, WI 54952, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
  • An arrest by the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at winnebagocountysheriffwi.nextrequest.com (page title: Public Records Online PortalNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
  • Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.

The Winnebago County guide covers every agency in the county: Winnebago County arrest records.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Menasha each year?

Menasha reported 723 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Menasha?

Ask the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at inmates.winnebagosheriff.com.

Where are people arrested in Menasha booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Menasha?

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 Menasha?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Menasha police for its own arrests, the Winnebago 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 winnebagocountysheriffwi.nextrequest.com.

Is this the official Menasha 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.