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 October 4, 2026.
Columbia County, Wisconsin, has about 58,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office and seven 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 Columbia 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: Columbia County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Columbia County
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Columbia County. It reported 1,649 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists seven cities in Columbia County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Portage, 9,975 residents: 1,058 arrests reported for 2025.
- Columbus, 5,429 residents: 83 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lodi, 3,200 residents: 23 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wisconsin Dells, 3,157 residents: 589 arrests reported for 2022.
- Poynette, 2,834 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2024.
- Fall River, 1,853 residents: 182 arrests reported for 2023.
- Rio, 1,126 residents: 45 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Columbia 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.
- Columbia County Sheriff's Office: 1,649 for 2024, 1,574 for 2023, 1,477 for 2022, 1,589 for 2021, 1,549 for 2020 and 1,180 for 2019.
- Portage: 1,058 for 2025, 974 for 2024, 1,008 for 2023, 973 for 2022, 725 for 2021 and 648 for 2020.
- Columbus: 83 for 2025, 111 for 2024, 77 for 2023, 128 for 2022, 138 for 2021 and 146 for 2020.
- Poynette: 44 for 2024, 63 for 2023, 53 for 2022, 75 for 2021, 41 for 2020 and 60 for 2019.
- Wisconsin Dells: 589 for 2022, 413 for 2021 and 344 for 2020.
- Fall River: 182 for 2023, 157 for 2022, 62 for 2020 and 64 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Rio: 45 for 2020 and 50 for 2019.
- Lodi: 23 for 2025, 80 for 2022, 58 for 2021, 72 for 2020 and 58 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 2,778 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 2,778 in 2024 against 2,722 in 2023, up 2.1 percent.
Rio and Lodi reported only part of 2024 (9 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Columbia County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Columbia 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 140 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 336 beds, and it ran at 41 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 Columbia County Sheriff's Office at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/sheriff/Sheriffs-Office/Jail-Bookings (page title: Columbia County Sheriff's Office | Jail Bookings), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Columbia County
An arrest in Columbia County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Columbia County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/clerkofcourts, phone 800-362-9082); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/da, phone (608) 742-9650).
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 Columbia 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 Columbia County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Portage, Columbus, Lodi, Wisconsin Dells, Poynette, Fall River or another of the cities listed above: 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, (608) 742-9650, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Columbia County Circuit Court, through the court records page at co.columbia.wi.us, phone 800-362-9082.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Columbia County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the 13 cities in Columbia County: Portage, Columbus, Lodi, Wisconsin Dells, Poynette, Fall River and Rio. Pardeeville, Arlington, Cambria, Wyocena, Friesland and Doylestown 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 Columbia County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Columbia County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Columbia County each year?
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office reported 1,649 arrests to the FBI for 2024, and the four agencies with every month of 2024 on file reported 2,778 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Columbia County?
Look on the custody page of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office at co.columbia.wi.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Columbia County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Columbia 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 Columbia County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Columbia 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 Columbia 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.