Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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.
Ashland County, Wisconsin, has about 16,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ashland County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. An arrest 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 Ashland County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Ashland County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ashland County
The Ashland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ashland County. It reported 324 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Ashland County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Ashland, 7,940 residents: 371 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Ashland County
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.
- La Pointe: 1,159 for 2025, 1,166 for 2024, 1,176 for 2023, 1,176 for 2022, 1,142 for 2021 and 1,184 for 2020.
- Ashland: 371 for 2025, 342 for 2024, 376 for 2022, 366 for 2021 and 925 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
- Ashland County Sheriff's Office: 324 for 2025, 261 for 2022, 250 for 2021, 277 for 2020 and 246 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,854 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,530 in 2025 against 1,508 in 2024, up 1.5 percent.
Through March 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 429 arrests, against 456 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ashland County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ashland County 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 40 people, down from about 47 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 65 beds, and it ran at 62 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 Ashland County Sheriff's Office at ashlandcountywi.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Ashland County, WI), phone 715-685-7640, Wednesdays from 10 am to 2 pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Wisconsin Department of Corrections lists its inmates at appsdoc.wi.gov/lop/welcome.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Ashland County
An arrest in Ashland County 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 ashlandcountywi.gov/district_attorney, phone 715-682-7019).
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 Ashland County
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 Ashland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 715-685-7640.
- An arrest in Ashland: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 715-682-7019, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Ashland County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Ashland County: Ashland. Mellen and Butternut have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the La Pointe Police Department as a city agency in Ashland County; La Pointe is not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Ashland County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ashland County each year?
La Pointe reported 1,159 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,854 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ashland County?
Ask the Ashland County Sheriff's Office at 715-685-7640; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ashlandcountywi.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Ashland County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ashland County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ashland County?
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 Ashland County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ashland County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Ashland County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.