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 9, 2026.
Jefferson County, Wisconsin, has about 86,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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: Jefferson County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson County
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson County. It reported 552 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside seven 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:
- Watertown, 22,617 residents: 1,270 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fort Atkinson, 12,377 residents: 364 arrests reported for 2025.
- Jefferson, 7,766 residents: 501 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lake Mills, 6,617 residents: 168 arrests reported for 2025.
- Waterloo, 3,611 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2025.
- Johnson Creek, 3,398 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
- Palmyra, 1,719 residents: 32 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Whitewater Police Department and the Village of Lac La Belle Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Jefferson County, so their arrests are not broken out for Jefferson County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jefferson 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.
- Watertown: 1,270 for 2025, 1,339 for 2024, 1,297 for 2022, 1,242 for 2021, 1,214 for 2020 and 1,487 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 552 for 2025, 562 for 2024, 562 for 2023, 643 for 2022, 666 for 2021 and 1,163 for 2020.
- Jefferson: 501 for 2025, 403 for 2024, 348 for 2023, 451 for 2022, 421 for 2021 and 489 for 2020.
- Fort Atkinson: 364 for 2025, 503 for 2024, 587 for 2023, 370 for 2022, 263 for 2020 and 852 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Lake Mills: 168 for 2025, 163 for 2024, 177 for 2023, 205 for 2022, 266 for 2021 and 154 for 2020.
- Waterloo: 20 for 2025, 59 for 2024, 40 for 2023, 37 for 2022, 51 for 2020 and 49 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Johnson Creek: 1 for 2025 and 4 for 2024.
- Palmyra: 32 for 2023, 26 for 2022, 28 for 2021, 13 for 2020 and 38 for 2019.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,876 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,876 in 2025 against 3,033 in 2024, down 5.2 percent.
Through March 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 668 arrests, against 733 in the same months of 2025.
Palmyra reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jefferson 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 110 people, down from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 229 beds, and it ran at 50 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at jeffersoncountywi.gov/sheriff_br_law_enforcement___public_safety/ja... (page title: Jefferson County Jail Division), phone 920-674-7310, 411 S. Center Avenue Jefferson WI 53549, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Jefferson County
An arrest in Jefferson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Jefferson County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountywi.gov/courts___legal_services/criminal_court/index.php, phone 920-674-7153); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jeffersoncountywi.gov/courts___legal_services/district_attorney/ind..., phone 920-674-7220).
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 Jefferson County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 920-674-7310.
- An arrest in Watertown, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Lake Mills, Waterloo, Johnson Creek 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, 920-674-7220, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Jefferson County Circuit Court, through the court records page at jeffersoncountywi.gov, phone 920-674-7153.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountywi.gov (page title: Jefferson County Open Records).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Jefferson County guides go further: police reports and property records.
Cities in Jefferson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the eight cities in Jefferson County: Watertown, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Lake Mills, Waterloo, Johnson Creek and Palmyra. Sullivan has 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 Jefferson County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jefferson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Fort Atkinson (12,377)
- Lake Mills (6,617)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jefferson County each year?
Watertown reported 1,270 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,876 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jefferson County?
Ask the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at 920-674-7310; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountywi.gov.
Where are people arrested in Jefferson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson 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 jeffersoncountywi.gov.
Is this the official Jefferson 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.