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.
Polk County, Wisconsin, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Polk County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Polk 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: Polk County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Polk County
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Polk County.
The FBI lists five cities in Polk County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Amery, 2,934 residents: 151 arrests reported for 2025.
- Osceola, 2,880 residents: 143 arrests reported for 2025.
- St. Croix Falls, 2,310 residents: 286 arrests reported for 2025.
- Frederic, 1,141 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2020.
- Balsam Lake, 954 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 Polk 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.
- Balsam Lake: 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.
- St. Croix Falls: 286 for 2025, 260 for 2022, 249 for 2021, 147 for 2020 and 637 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Amery: 151 for 2025, 168 for 2024, 152 for 2022, 136 for 2021 and 232 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
- Osceola: 143 for 2025, 108 for 2023, 121 for 2022, 280 for 2020 and 247 for 2019; 2021 and 2024 are missing months.
- Frederic: 7 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,739 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,310 in 2025 against 1,334 in 2024, down 1.8 percent.
Through March 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 418 arrests, against 449 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Polk County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Polk 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 90 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 160 beds, and it ran at 53 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Polk County
Whether someone was arrested in Polk County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Polk County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at polkcountywi.gov/residents/courts/index.php); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at polkcountywi.gov/government/divisions_and_departments/public_safety..., phone 715-485-9231).
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 Polk 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Amery, Osceola, St. Croix Falls, Frederic or Balsam Lake: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 715-485-9231, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Polk County Circuit Court, through the court records page at polkcountywi.gov/residents/courts/index.php.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at polkcountywi.gov (page title: Open Records Request Polk County WI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Polk County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 11 cities in Polk County: Amery, Osceola, St. Croix Falls, Frederic and Balsam Lake. Clear Lake, Luck, Milltown, Dresser, Centuria and Clayton 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 Polk County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Polk County each year?
Balsam Lake reported 1,159 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,739 between them.
Where are people arrested in Polk County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Polk 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 Polk County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Polk 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 polkcountywi.gov.
Is this the official Polk 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.