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.
Bayfield County, Wisconsin, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bayfield County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Bayfield 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: Bayfield County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bayfield County
The Bayfield County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bayfield County. It reported 316 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Bayfield County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Washburn, 2,055 residents: 38 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bayfield, 592 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Bayfield 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.
- Bayfield County Sheriff's Office: 316 for 2025, 251 for 2024, 252 for 2023, 138 for 2022, 117 for 2020 and 91 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Washburn: 38 for 2025, 51 for 2024, 36 for 2022, 59 for 2020 and 32 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Iron River: 28 for 2024, 23 for 2023, 29 for 2020 and 37 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Bayfield: 9 for 2024, 19 for 2022, 30 for 2020 and 46 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 339 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 279 in 2024 against 275 in 2023, up 1.5 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bayfield County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bayfield County 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 2024 the jail held about 39 people, down from about 50 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 86 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Bayfield County Sheriff's Office at bayfieldcounty.wi.gov/410/Bayfield-County-Jail (page title: Bayfield County Jail | Bayfield County, WI), phone 715-373-6117, 615 N 2nd Avenue E P.O. Box 115 Washburn, WI 54891, Tuesday from 6:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M., 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 Bayfield County
Whether someone was arrested in Bayfield County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Bayfield County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at bayfieldcounty.wi.gov/572/DA-Court-Records, phone 715-373-6108); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bayfieldcounty.wi.gov/138/District-Attorney, phone 715-373-6111).
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 Bayfield 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 Bayfield County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 715-373-6117.
- An arrest in Washburn or Bayfield: 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, 715-373-6111, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Bayfield County Circuit Court, through the court records page at bayfieldcounty.wi.gov/572/DA-Court-Records, phone 715-373-6108.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Bayfield County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Bayfield County: Washburn and Bayfield. Mason has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Iron River Police Department as a city agency in Bayfield County; Iron River 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 Bayfield County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bayfield County each year?
The Bayfield County Sheriff's Office reported 316 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Bayfield County sent in full, the four with every month on file reported 339 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bayfield County?
Ask the Bayfield County Sheriff's Office at 715-373-6117; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bayfieldcounty.wi.gov.
Where are people arrested in Bayfield County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bayfield County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bayfield 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 Bayfield County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bayfield 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 Bayfield 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.