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.
Shawano County, Wisconsin, has about 41,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Shawano 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 Shawano 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: Shawano County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Shawano County
The Shawano County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Shawano County. It reported 1,086 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Shawano County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Shawano, 9,635 residents: 844 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.
The Pulaski Police Department and the Marion Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Shawano County, so their arrests are not broken out for Shawano County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Shawano 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.
- Shawano County Sheriff's Office: 1,086 for 2025, 1,193 for 2024, 1,123 for 2023, 951 for 2022, 1,328 for 2021 and 1,188 for 2020.
- Shawano: 844 for 2025, 697 for 2024, 637 for 2022, 636 for 2021 and 624 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,930 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,930 in 2025 against 1,890 in 2024, up 2.1 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 436 arrests, against 480 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Shawano County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Shawano 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 140 people, down from about 160 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 299 beds, and it ran at 46 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 Shawano County Sheriff's Office at co.shawano.wi.us/departments/sheriff/jail-wrc (page title: Shawano County | Departments | Sheriff | Jail | WRC), phone (715) 526-7950, 405 N. Main St. Shawano, WI 54166, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Shawano County
Whether someone was arrested in Shawano County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Shawano County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at wicourts.gov/SearchWicourts?query=Shawano+County+Case+Search); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.shawano.wi.us/departments/district-attorney/general-information, phone (715) 526-2166).
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 Shawano 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 Shawano County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (715) 526-7950.
- An arrest in Shawano: 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) 526-2166, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Shawano County Circuit Court, through the court records page at wicourts.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Shawano County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Shawano County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the 11 cities in Shawano County: Shawano. Bonduel, Wittenberg, Birnamwood, Tigerton, Cecil, Gresham, Mattoon, Bowler, Aniwa and Eland 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 Shawano County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Shawano County each year?
The Shawano County Sheriff's Office reported 1,086 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,930 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Shawano County?
Ask the Shawano County Sheriff's Office at (715) 526-7950; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.shawano.wi.us/departments/sheriff/jail-wrc.
Where are people arrested in Shawano County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Shawano County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Shawano 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 Shawano County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Shawano 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 Shawano 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.