Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Washington County, Wisconsin, has about 139,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Wisconsin the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Wisconsin Department of Justice is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Washington County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Washington County public records, Washington County arrest records, Washington County warrants, Washington County inmate search, Washington County court records, Wisconsin arrest records and Wisconsin inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Washington County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Washington County is filed in the Washington County Circuit Court, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of Circuit Court, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at washcowisco.gov/departments/clerk_of_circuit_court (page title: Clerk of Circuit Court | Washington County, WI), phone 262-335-4341, 484 Rolfs Avenue West Bend, WI 53090, Monday - Friday Hours Available: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the free statewide case search of every circuit court.
The Wisconsin Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Washington County
The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for West Bend, Germantown, Hartford (township), Hartford, Jackson, Slinger and two more cities keep the arrest records in Washington County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
Together, the six agencies in Washington County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,988 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Washington County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Washington County in 2025
The seven agencies in Washington County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 125 violent and 809 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 934 crimes in 2025 against 1,052 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Washington County public records guide.
The District Attorney for Washington County
The District Attorney decides which arrests in Washington County become charges and files them in the Washington County Circuit Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at washcowisco.gov/departments/district_attorney (page title: District Attorney | Washington County, WI), phone 262-335-4311, Monday - Friday Hours Available: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Washington County
Registered sex offenders living in Washington County are listed on the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry, run by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at wistaysafe.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Washington County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Wisconsin Public Records Law a county office must answer a request 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washcowisco.gov/departments/sheriff_office/open_records (page title: Open Records | Washington County, WI).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Washington 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.
Can I search Washington County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at washcowisco.gov (page title: Clerk of Circuit Court | Washington County, WI). Statewide, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the free statewide case search of every circuit court.
How do I get my own Wisconsin criminal history?
Through the same record check, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Washington County?
The District Attorney, reached at 262-335-4311, which files its cases in the Washington County Circuit Court.
Is this the official Washington 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.