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 October 2, 2026.
South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in Milwaukee County, has about 20,000 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 Milwaukee 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: South Milwaukee public records, Milwaukee County arrest records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in South Milwaukee
The FBI lists South Milwaukee with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as South Milwaukee Police Department. It reported 603 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 Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,392 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Milwaukee County: the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Marquette University (campus police); the State Fair Park Police (state agency).
How Many Arrests South Milwaukee 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.
- South Milwaukee: 603 for 2025, 737 for 2024, 814 for 2023, 773 for 2022, 731 for 2021 and 749 for 2020.
South Milwaukee's 603 arrests in 2025 were down 18 percent from 737 in 2024.
Through April 2026, South Milwaukee reported 193 arrests, against 188 in the same months of 2025.
Across Milwaukee County, the 20 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 28,168 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in South Milwaukee Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in South Milwaukee and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 2,170 people, up from about 1,930 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 2,738 beds, and it ran at 79 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office at incustodysearch.milwaukeecountywi.gov (page title: Milwaukee County Sheriff | In Custody Locator), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 South Milwaukee
Whether someone was arrested in South Milwaukee, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at wicourts.gov/casesearch.htm).
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 South Milwaukee
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 South Milwaukee police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at southmilwaukee.gov/358/Open-Records-Request (page title: Open Records Request | South Milwaukee, WI), phone 414-768-8060, Monday through Friday 7 am to 6 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, through the court records page at wicourts.gov/casesearch.htm.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Milwaukee County guide covers every agency in the county: Milwaukee County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in South Milwaukee each year?
South Milwaukee reported 603 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in South Milwaukee?
Look on the custody page of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office at incustodysearch.milwaukeecountywi.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in South Milwaukee booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in South Milwaukee?
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 South Milwaukee?
From the agency that made the arrest: the South Milwaukee police for its own arrests, the Milwaukee 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.
Is this the official South Milwaukee 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.