Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). In Wisconsin the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Wisconsin Department of Justice is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Columbia County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Columbia County public records, Columbia County arrest records, Columbia County warrants, Columbia County inmate search, Columbia County court records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Columbia County Circuit Court
In Wisconsin the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Columbia County are heard by the Columbia County Circuit Court, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court.
For Columbia County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/clerkofcourts (page title: Columbia County Clerk of Courts Home Page), phone 800-362-9082, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
Statewide, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the free statewide case search of every circuit court.
The Wisconsin Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Columbia County
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Portage, Columbus, Lodi, Wisconsin Dells, Poynette, Fall River and one more cities keep the arrest records in Columbia County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
Together, the four agencies in Columbia County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 2,778 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Columbia County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Columbia County in 2024
The four agencies in Columbia County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 62 violent and 376 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 438 crimes in 2024 against 378 in 2023. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Columbia County public records guide.
The District Attorney for Columbia County
The District Attorney decides which arrests in Columbia County become charges and files them in the Columbia County Circuit Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at co.columbia.wi.us/columbiacounty/da (page title: Columbia County District Attorney Home Page), phone (608) 742-9650, 400 DeWitt Street Portage, WI 53901, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Columbia County
Registered sex offenders living in Columbia County are listed on the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry, run by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at wistaysafe.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Columbia County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Wisconsin Public Records Law a county office must answer a request 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Columbia County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at co.columbia.wi.us (page title: Columbia County Clerk of Courts Home Page). Statewide, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the free statewide case search of every circuit court.
How do I get my own Wisconsin criminal history?
Through the same record check, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Columbia County?
The District Attorney, reached at (608) 742-9650, which files its cases in the Columbia County Circuit Court.
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.