SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Dane County, Wisconsin, has about 588,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dane County Sheriff's Office, 21 city agencies and two campus, state or other 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 Dane 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: Dane County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Dane County

The Dane County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dane County. It reported 1,739 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists 21 cities in Dane County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Madison, 285,300 residents: 8,274 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Madison (town), 285,300 residents: 183 arrests reported for 2021.
  • Sun Prairie, 39,253 residents: 1,107 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Fitchburg, 34,357 residents: 910 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Middleton, 22,566 residents: 429 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Verona, 16,825 residents: 455 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Waunakee, 16,363 residents: 285 arrests reported for 2024.
  • Stoughton, 13,134 residents: 282 arrests reported for 2025.
  • DeForest, 12,260 residents: 343 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Oregon, 11,895 residents: 189 arrests reported for 2025.
  • McFarland, 9,224 residents: 72 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Cottage Grove, 8,974 residents: 221 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.

The Edgerton Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Dane County, so its arrests are not broken out for Dane County here.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Dane County: the University of Wisconsin at Madison (campus police); the Capitol Police (state agency).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Dane 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.

  • Madison: 8,274 for 2025, 9,091 for 2023, 7,586 for 2022, 6,427 for 2021, 6,238 for 2020 and 8,086 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
  • Dane County Sheriff's Office: 1,739 for 2025, 1,866 for 2024, 1,705 for 2022, 1,826 for 2021, 1,711 for 2020 and 2,080 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
  • Blue Mounds: 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.
  • Sun Prairie: 1,107 for 2025, 1,050 for 2024, 916 for 2023, 855 for 2022, 888 for 2021 and 1,157 for 2020.
  • Fitchburg: 910 for 2025, 995 for 2024, 771 for 2023, 638 for 2022, 505 for 2021 and 640 for 2020.
  • Verona: 455 for 2025, 432 for 2024, 381 for 2022, 371 for 2021, 578 for 2020 and 514 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
  • Middleton: 429 for 2025, 448 for 2024, 318 for 2023, 448 for 2022, 560 for 2021 and 497 for 2020.
  • DeForest: 343 for 2025, 324 for 2024, 405 for 2022, 383 for 2021, 306 for 2020 and 423 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
  • Monona: 316 for 2025, 291 for 2024, 368 for 2023, 305 for 2022, 301 for 2021 and 564 for 2020.
  • Stoughton: 282 for 2025, 307 for 2024, 322 for 2023, 266 for 2022, 270 for 2021 and 263 for 2020.
  • Cottage Grove: 221 for 2025, 202 for 2024, 161 for 2023, 155 for 2022, 155 for 2021 and 144 for 2020.
  • Oregon: 189 for 2025, 192 for 2024, 209 for 2023, 208 for 2022, 237 for 2021 and 193 for 2020.

Together, the 17 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,821 arrests that year. The 16 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,547 in 2025 against 7,662 in 2024, down 1.5 percent.

Through March 2026, the 14 agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,710 arrests, against 3,885 in the same months of 2025.

Cross Plains, Marshall and Waunakee reported only part of 2025 (7 months, 9 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Dane County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Dane 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 620 people, down from about 710 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 763 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Dane County Sheriff's Office at danesheriff.com/Jail (page title: Jail | Dane County Sheriff's Office), phone (608) 266-4311, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Madison, WI 53703, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Dane County

An arrest in Dane County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Dane County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at da.danecounty.gov/Court-Process/Records-and-Fines, phone (608) 266-4311); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at da.danecounty.gov, phone (608) 266-9150).

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 Dane 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 Dane County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (608) 266-4311.
  • An arrest in Madison, Madison (town), Sun Prairie, Fitchburg, Middleton, Verona 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.
  • An arrest by the University of Wisconsin at Madison or the Capitol Police: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (608) 266-9150, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Dane County Circuit Court, through the court records page at da.danecounty.gov, phone (608) 266-4311.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at danecounty.gov/record-requests (page title: Public Record Requests | Dane County, Wisconsin).
  • Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.

Cities in Dane County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 21 of the 27 cities in Dane County: the twelve named above and Monona, Mount Horeb, Cross Plains, Marshall, Belleville, Shorewood Hills, Brooklyn, Maple Bluff and Blue Mounds. Windsor, Deerfield, Mazomanie, Cambridge, Black Earth, Dane and Rockdale 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 Dane County Circuit Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Dane 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 Dane County each year?

Madison reported 8,274 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 17 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 15,821 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dane County?

Ask the Dane County Sheriff's Office at (608) 266-4311; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at danesheriff.com/Jail.

Where are people arrested in Dane County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dane County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Dane 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 Dane County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Dane 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at danecounty.gov/record-requests.

Is this the official Dane 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.