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.
West Bend, Wisconsin, in Washington County, has about 32,000 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 Washington 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: West Bend public records, Washington County arrest records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in West Bend
The FBI lists West Bend with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as West Bend Police Department. It reported 1,456 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 738 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests West Bend 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.
- West Bend: 1,456 for 2025, 1,652 for 2024, 1,734 for 2023, 2,046 for 2022, 1,988 for 2021 and 1,689 for 2020.
West Bend's 1,456 arrests in 2025 were down 12 percent from 1,652 in 2024.
Across Washington County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,988 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in West Bend Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in West Bend 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 230 people, up from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 321 beds, and it ran at 72 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office at washingtoncountysheriffwi.org (page title: Washington County Jail Offender Locator), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 West Bend
An arrest in West Bend can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Washington County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Washington County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at washcowisco.gov/departments/clerk_of_circuit_court, phone 262-335-4341); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at washcowisco.gov/departments/district_attorney, phone 262-335-4311).
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 West Bend
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 West Bend police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at westbendwi.gov/departments/police/public_records_access_notice.php (page title: West Bend, WI), 350 Vine St West Bend, WI 53095, Monday-Friday: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 262-335-4311, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Washington County Circuit Court, through the court records page at washcowisco.gov, phone 262-335-4341.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washcowisco.gov (page title: Open Records | Washington County, WI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Washington County guide covers every agency in the county: Washington County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in West Bend each year?
West Bend reported 1,456 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in West Bend booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in West Bend?
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 West Bend?
From the agency that made the arrest: the West Bend police for its own arrests, the Washington 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 washcowisco.gov.
Is this the official West Bend 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.