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 26, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Merrill, Wisconsin, in Lincoln County, has about 9,400 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 Merrill 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: Merrill public records, Lincoln County criminal records, Merrill arrest records, Merrill warrants, Merrill inmate search, Merrill court records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Lincoln County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Merrill is filed in the Lincoln 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 co.lincoln.wi.us/clerk-courts/page/criminal (page title: Criminal | Lincoln County, WI), phone 715-536-0319, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Merrill
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Merrill (filed by the FBI as Merrill Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Merrill: 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.
Together, the two agencies in Lincoln County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,220 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 Merrill arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Merrill in 2025
The agency that reports for Merrill had 16 violent and 158 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 Lincoln County
The District Attorney decides which arrests in Lincoln County become charges and files them in the Lincoln 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 co.lincoln.wi.us/district-attorney/directory-listing/kristopher-ellis (page title: Kristopher Ellis | Lincoln County, WI), phone 715-536-0339, 1110 E Main St Ste 103 Merrill, WI 54452, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
The Sex Offender Registry for Merrill
Registered sex offenders living in Merrill 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 Lincoln 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Merrill?
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 Merrill criminal cases online?
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 Merrill?
The District Attorney, reached at 715-536-0339, which files its cases in the Lincoln County Circuit Court.
Is this the official Merrill 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.