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 27, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Lincoln County, Wisconsin, has about 28,000 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 Lincoln 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: Lincoln County public records, Lincoln County arrest records, Lincoln County warrants, Lincoln County inmate search, Lincoln County court records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Lincoln County Circuit Court
In Wisconsin the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Lincoln County are heard by the Lincoln 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 Lincoln County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at co.lincoln.wi.us/clerk-courts/page/criminal (page title: Criminal | Lincoln County, WI), phone 715-536-0319, 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 Lincoln County
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Merrill and Tomahawk keep the arrest records in Lincoln 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 two agencies in Lincoln County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,220 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 Lincoln County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Lincoln County in 2025
The two agencies in Lincoln County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 36 violent and 210 property crimes to the FBI that year; the one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 174 crimes in 2025 against 246 in 2024. 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 Lincoln County public records guide.
The District Attorney for Lincoln County
Charges in Lincoln County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Lincoln County Circuit Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at co.lincoln.wi.us/district-attorney/directory-listing/kristopher-ellis (page title: Kristopher Ellis | Lincoln County, WI), phone 715-536-0339, 1110 E Main St Ste 103 Merrill, WI 54452, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
The Sex Offender Registry for Lincoln County
Registered sex offenders living in Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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 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.
Can I search Lincoln 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 Lincoln County?
The District Attorney, reached at 715-536-0339, which files its cases in the Lincoln County Circuit Court.
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.