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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Lafayette County, Wisconsin, has about 17,000 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 Lafayette County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Lafayette County public records, Lafayette County arrest records, Lafayette County warrants, Lafayette County inmate search, Lafayette County court records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Lafayette County Circuit Court
In Wisconsin the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Lafayette County are heard by the Lafayette 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.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at lafayettecountywi.org/coc (page title: Clerk of Courts | Lafayette County WI), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Lafayette County
The Lafayette County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Darlington, Shullsburg, Blanchardville and Argyle keep the arrest records in Lafayette 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.
The Cuba City Police Department and the Hazel Green Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Lafayette County, so their arrests are not broken out for Lafayette County here.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Lafayette County arrest records.
The District Attorney for Lafayette County
Charges in Lafayette County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Lafayette County Circuit Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at lafayettecountywi.org/da (page title: District Attorney | Lafayette County WI), phone 608-776-4842, 626 Main Street Darlington, WI 53530, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
The Sex Offender Registry for Lafayette County
Registered sex offenders living in Lafayette 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette County criminal cases online?
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 Lafayette County?
The District Attorney, reached at 608-776-4842, which files its cases in the Lafayette County Circuit Court.
Is this the official Lafayette 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.