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 27, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Lincoln County, Wisconsin, has about 28,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Lincoln 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: Lincoln County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lincoln County
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lincoln County. It reported 456 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Lincoln County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Merrill, 9,445 residents: 764 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tomahawk, 3,390 residents: 111 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Lincoln 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.
- Merrill: 764 for 2025, 844 for 2024, 834 for 2023, 734 for 2022, 650 for 2021 and 409 for 2020.
- Lincoln County Sheriff's Office: 456 for 2025, 528 for 2023, 489 for 2022, 398 for 2021, 318 for 2020 and 293 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Tomahawk: 111 for 2024, 111 for 2023, 101 for 2022, 106 for 2021, 96 for 2020 and 143 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,220 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 764 in 2025 against 844 in 2024, down 9.5 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 311 arrests, against 282 in the same months of 2025.
Tomahawk reported only part of 2025 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lincoln County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lincoln 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 2025 the jail held about 85 people, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 182 beds, and it ran at 47 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 Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at p2c.lincolnsheriff.org/jailinmates.aspx (page title: Lincoln County Sheriffs Office P2C), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Lincoln County
For Lincoln County the place to look is Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the free statewide case search of every circuit court, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Merrill or Tomahawk: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lincoln County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Lincoln County: Merrill and Tomahawk.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Lincoln County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Lincoln County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Merrill (9,445)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lincoln County each year?
Merrill reported 764 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,220 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lincoln County?
Ask the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at p2c.lincolnsheriff.org/jailinmates.aspx.
Where are people arrested in Lincoln County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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.