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 28, 2026.
Clark County, Wisconsin, has about 35,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clark County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Clark 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: Clark County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clark County
The Clark County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clark County. It reported 63 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside four of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Neillsville, 2,375 residents: 100 arrests reported for 2025.
- Thorp, 1,769 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2023.
- Loyal, 1,187 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2025.
- Greenwood, 1,074 residents.
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.
The Colby-Abbotsford Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Clark County, so its arrests are not broken out for Clark County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clark 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.
- Owen-Withee: 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.
- Clark County Sheriff's Office: 63 for 2024, 120 for 2022, 126 for 2021 and 83 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
- Thorp: 1 for 2023, 3 for 2022, 4 for 2021, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
- Neillsville: 100 for 2025 and 78 for 2024.
- Loyal: 20 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 1,299 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2022 and 2021 complete reported 1,299 in 2022 against 1,272 in 2021, up 2.1 percent.
Loyal reported only part of 2022 (1 month) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clark County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clark 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 30 people, down from about 52 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 126 beds, and it ran at 24 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 Clark County Sheriff's Office at clarkcountywi.gov/sheriff-mobile-menu (page title: Sheriff Mobile Menu | Clark County WI), phone (715) 743-3157, 517 Court St, Room 308 | Neillsville, WI 54456, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Clark County
An arrest in Clark County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Clark County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at clarkcountywi.gov/circuitcourt, phone 715-743-5183); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at clarkcountywi.gov/da, phone (715) 743-5167).
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 Clark 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 Clark County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (715) 743-3157.
- An arrest in Neillsville, Thorp, Loyal or Greenwood: 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) 743-5167, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clark County Circuit Court, through the court records page at clarkcountywi.gov/circuitcourt, phone 715-743-5183.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Clark County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the 11 cities in Clark County: Neillsville, Thorp, Loyal and Greenwood. Abbotsford, Colby, Owen, Dorchester, Withee, Granton and Curtiss have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Owen-Withee Police Department as a city agency in Clark County; Owen-Withee 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 Clark County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clark County each year?
Owen-Withee reported 1,159 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2022, the latest year most of the agencies in Clark County sent in full, the three with every month on file reported 1,299 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clark County?
Ask the Clark County Sheriff's Office at (715) 743-3157; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at clarkcountywi.gov/sheriff-mobile-menu.
Where are people arrested in Clark County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clark County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clark 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 Clark County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clark 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 Clark 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.