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.
Sawyer County, Wisconsin, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sawyer County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Sawyer 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: Sawyer County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sawyer County
The Sawyer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sawyer County. It reported 394 arrests for 2025.
One city in Sawyer County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Hayward, 2,587 residents: 61 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 Sawyer County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Sawyer County Sheriff's Office: 394 for 2025, 459 for 2024, 400 for 2023, 587 for 2022, 848 for 2021 and 598 for 2020.
- Hayward: 61 for 2025, 73 for 2024, 94 for 2023, 132 for 2022 and 91 for 2021.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 455 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 455 in 2025 against 532 in 2024, down 14 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 100 arrests, against 132 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sawyer County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Sawyer 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 49 people, down from about 95 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 104 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 custody page of the Sawyer County Sheriff's Office at sawyercounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3000/Current_Inamtespdf?bidId= (page title: rpjlciol.x1 06/07/26 SAWYER COUNTY JAIL ROSTER Run Date: 06/07/26 09:00:03), phone 715-634-4858, 15880 Fifth Street Hayward, WI 54843, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Sawyer County
An arrest in Sawyer County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Sawyer County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Sawyer County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sawyercounty.gov/m/directory/department?did=15, phone 715-634-4866); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sawyercounty.gov/183/District-Attorney, phone 715-634-4097).
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 Sawyer 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 Sawyer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 715-634-4858.
- An arrest in Hayward: 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, 715-634-4097, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Sawyer County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sawyercounty.gov, phone 715-634-4866.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sawyercounty.gov/375/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records Request | Sawyer County, WI).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Sawyer County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Sawyer County: Hayward. Winter, Radisson, Exeland and Couderay 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 Sawyer County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sawyer County each year?
The Sawyer County Sheriff's Office reported 394 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 455 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Sawyer County?
Look on the custody page of the Sawyer County Sheriff's Office at sawyercounty.gov, or call 715-634-4858. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Sawyer County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sawyer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sawyer 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 Sawyer County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sawyer 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 sawyercounty.gov/375/Public-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Sawyer 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.