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.
Monroe County, Wisconsin, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and six 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 Monroe 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: Monroe County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Monroe County. It reported 642 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside six 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:
- Sparta, 9,963 residents: 900 arrests reported for 2022.
- Tomah, 9,574 residents: 724 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cashton, 1,157 residents: 23 arrests reported for 2022.
- Norwalk, 608 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2023.
- Wilton, 523 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2023.
- Kendall, 469 residents: 1,159 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Monroe 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.
- Kendall: 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.
- Tomah: 724 for 2025, 863 for 2024, 868 for 2023, 1,238 for 2020 and 1,347 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Monroe County Sheriff's Office: 642 for 2023, 596 for 2022, 600 for 2021, 642 for 2020 and 589 for 2019.
- Wilton: 11 for 2023, 12 for 2022 and 2 for 2020; 2021 is missing months.
- Norwalk: 6 for 2023, 3 for 2022, 4 for 2020 and 3 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Sparta: 900 for 2022, 781 for 2021, 622 for 2020 and 1,325 for 2019.
- Cashton: 23 for 2022, 23 for 2021, 24 for 2020 and 14 for 2019.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 2,703 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2023 and 2022 complete reported 1,835 in 2023 against 1,787 in 2022, up 2.7 percent.
Sparta and Cashton reported only part of 2023 (11 months and 9 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Monroe County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Monroe 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 100 people, down from about 110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 180 beds, and it ran at 58 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at appsdoc.wi.gov/lop/welcome.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Monroe County
An arrest in Monroe County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Monroe County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at co.monroe.wi.us/departments/clerk-of-courts, phone 608-269-8781); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.monroe.wi.us/departments/district-attorney, phone (608) 269-8780).
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 Monroe 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 Monroe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Sparta, Tomah, Cashton, Norwalk, Wilton or Kendall: 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, (608) 269-8780, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Monroe County Circuit Court, through the court records page at co.monroe.wi.us/departments/clerk-of-courts, phone 608-269-8781.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Monroe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the ten cities in Monroe County: Sparta, Tomah, Cashton, Norwalk, Wilton and Kendall. Warrens, Oakdale, Wyeville and Melvina 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 Monroe County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Monroe County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Tomah (9,574)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Monroe County each year?
Kendall reported 1,159 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2023, the latest year most of the agencies in Monroe County sent in full, the five with every month on file reported 2,703 between them.
Where are people arrested in Monroe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Monroe 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 Monroe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Monroe 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 Monroe 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.