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.
Vernon County, Wisconsin, has about 31,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Vernon 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 Vernon 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: Vernon County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Vernon County
The Vernon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Vernon County. It reported 140 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Vernon County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Viroqua, 4,407 residents: 166 arrests reported for 2025.
- Westby, 2,414 residents: 61 arrests reported for 2023.
- Hillsboro, 1,397 residents: 157 arrests reported for 2019.
- La Farge, 705 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2022.
- Readstown, 371 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2019.
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 Vernon 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.
- Viroqua: 166 for 2025, 207 for 2024, 154 for 2023, 163 for 2022, 165 for 2020 and 566 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Vernon County Sheriff's Office: 140 for 2025, 166 for 2024, 167 for 2023, 148 for 2021, 144 for 2020 and 338 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Hillsboro: 157 for 2019.
- Westby: 61 for 2023, 74 for 2022, 29 for 2020 and 33 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- La Farge: 5 for 2022, 18 for 2020 and 26 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Readstown: 0 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 306 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 306 in 2025 against 373 in 2024, down 18 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 53 arrests, against 91 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Vernon County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Vernon 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 76 people, down from about 81 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 128 beds, and it ran at 59 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 Vernon County Sheriff's Office at vernoncountywi.gov/departments/sheriff_s_office/jail.php (page title: Welcome to Vernon County, WI), phone 608-638-5780, 1320 Bad Axe Court, Viroqua, WI 54665, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Vernon County
An arrest in Vernon County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Vernon County Circuit Court, kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at vernoncountywi.gov/departments/district_attorney/index.php).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at vernoncounty.wisconsincourt.us/court-records.html (page title: Vernon County Court Records | Case Lookup), phone 608-637-5340, belongs to a lower court, not to the Vernon County Circuit Court.
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 Vernon 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 Vernon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 608-638-5780.
- An arrest in Viroqua, Westby, Hillsboro, La Farge or Readstown: 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Vernon County Circuit Court it is kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at vernoncounty.wisconsincourt.us, phone 608-637-5340, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at vernoncountywi.gov (page title: Record Requests).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Vernon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 11 cities in Vernon County: Viroqua, Westby, Hillsboro, La Farge and Readstown. Stoddard, Coon Valley, Ontario, De Soto, Chaseburg and Genoa 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 Vernon County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Vernon County each year?
Viroqua reported 166 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 306 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Vernon County?
Ask the Vernon County Sheriff's Office at 608-638-5780; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at vernoncountywi.gov.
Where are people arrested in Vernon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Vernon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Vernon 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 Vernon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Vernon 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 vernoncountywi.gov.
Is this the official Vernon 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.