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 on September 23, 2026.
Barron County, Wisconsin, has about 47,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Barron County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Barron 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: Barron County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Barron County
The Barron County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Barron County. It reported 393 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Barron County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Rice Lake, 8,971 residents: 483 arrests reported for 2025.
- Barron, 3,674 residents: 100 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cumberland, 2,302 residents.
- Chetek, 2,169 residents: 30 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 Barron County
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.
- Rice Lake: 483 for 2025, 517 for 2024, 650 for 2022, 645 for 2021, 698 for 2020 and 756 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Barron County Sheriff's Office: 393 for 2025, 425 for 2024, 377 for 2023, 368 for 2022, 389 for 2021 and 416 for 2020.
- Barron: 100 for 2025, 91 for 2023, 62 for 2022, 74 for 2021, 58 for 2020 and 81 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Chetek: 30 for 2025, 35 for 2023, 33 for 2022, 38 for 2021, 46 for 2020 and 81 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,006 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 876 in 2025 against 942 in 2024, down 7 percent.
Through March 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 238 arrests, against 237 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Barron County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Barron 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 110 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 192 beds, and it ran at 55 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Barron County
Whether someone was arrested in Barron County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Barron County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at barroncountywi.gov/clerk-of-circuit-court, phone 800-362-9082); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at barroncountywi.gov/district-attorney, phone (715) 537-6220).
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 Barron 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 Barron County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Rice Lake, Barron, Cumberland or Chetek: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (715) 537-6220, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Barron County Circuit Court, through the court records page at barroncountywi.gov/clerk-of-circuit-court, phone 800-362-9082.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Barron County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the ten cities in Barron County: Rice Lake, Barron, Cumberland and Chetek. Cameron, Turtle Lake, Almena, Prairie Farm, Dallas and Haugen have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Barron County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Barron County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Rice Lake (8,971)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Barron County each year?
Rice Lake reported 483 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,006 between them.
Where are people arrested in Barron County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Barron County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Barron 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 Barron County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Barron 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 Barron 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.