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.
Waushara County, Wisconsin, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Waushara 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 Waushara 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: Waushara County public records, Wisconsin arrest records, Wisconsin inmate search and Wisconsin criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Waushara County
The Waushara County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Waushara County. It reported 547 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Waushara County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Wautoma, 2,371 residents: 142 arrests reported for 2025.
- Redgranite, 2,123 residents: 17 arrests reported for 2023.
- Plainfield, 920 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
- Wild Rose, 794 residents: 4 arrests reported for 2020.
- Hancock, 398 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Berlin Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Waushara County, so its arrests are not broken out for Waushara County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Waushara 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.
- Waushara County Sheriff's Office: 547 for 2025, 481 for 2024, 522 for 2023, 557 for 2022, 604 for 2021 and 495 for 2020.
- Wautoma: 142 for 2025, 100 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 102 for 2022, 90 for 2021 and 132 for 2020.
- Redgranite: 17 for 2023.
- Wild Rose: 4 for 2020 and 29 for 2019.
- Hancock: 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
- Plainfield: 0 for 2020 and 13 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 689 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 689 in 2025 against 581 in 2024, up 19 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 166 arrests, against 147 in the same months of 2025.
Redgranite reported only part of 2025 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Waushara County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Waushara 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 2024 the jail held about 56 people, down from about 80 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 132 beds, and it ran at 42 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 Waushara County Sheriff's Office at co.waushara.wi.us/19834/Waushara-County-Jail (page title: Waushara County Jail | Waushara County WI), phone 920-787-3321, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Waushara County
For Waushara County the place to look is Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the free statewide case search of every circuit court, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Waushara 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 Waushara County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 920-787-3321.
- An arrest in Wautoma, Redgranite, Plainfield, Wild Rose or Hancock: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Waushara County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the seven cities in Waushara County: Wautoma, Redgranite, Plainfield, Wild Rose and Hancock. Coloma and Lohrville 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 Waushara County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Waushara County each year?
The Waushara County Sheriff's Office reported 547 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 689 between them.
Where are people arrested in Waushara County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Waushara County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Waushara 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 Waushara County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Waushara 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 Waushara 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.