Wisconsin Arrest Records

In 2022, the Wisconsin Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Arrest Data recorded approximately 190,300 arrests statewide, marking an increase of 2,750 from the previous year. Of those arrested, about 163,393 were adults, and 26,907 were juveniles. The UCR split Wisconsin 2022 arrest records into the following categories:

• Violent crimes: 7,177
• Property crimes: 27,046
• Society crimes: 56,872
• Drug crimes: 24,780
• Other crimes: 74,425

What Is an Arrest Under Wisconsin Law?

An arrest in Wisconsin is the seizing or detaining of a person by any act or words indicating an intention to take the individual into custody, thereby causing the person arrested to believe they are under the actual control and will of the person making the arrest.

Type of Arrests in Wisconsin

Per Section 968.07 of Wisconsin Statutes, law enforcement in the state may arrest someone with or without a warrant.

Warrant Arrest

A warrant arrest may be made using an arrest warrant or bench warrant. Both serve the same purpose: authorizing a law enforcement officer to take an individual into custody. However, they serve different purposes.

An arrest warrant is generally issued by a magistrate or judge, authorizing a law enforcement officer to apprehend the person named in the warrant who has been suspected of committing a crime. It is typically issued after a prosecutor or law enforcement officer presents evidence, including sworn statements to a magistrate or judge, who then determines whether probable cause exists for the person committing the crime. If the judge or magistrate reaches that determination, an arrest warrant is issued. Note that probable cause means more than mere suspicion or a hunch. It refers to a body of evidence that would lead a reasonable law enforcement officer to believe a suspect committed an offense.

With an arrest warrant, a law enforcement officer may apprehend the suspect. The apprehension may be executed at any place and time. Upon making a warrant arrest, the officer will inform the suspect of the reason for the arrest. If the officer has the arrest warrant in hand, the officer will read the warrant to the suspect and endorse it with the arrest time and place. Afterward, the warrant will be returned to the issuing court.

A warrant arrest can typically be made when:

• The arresting officer has probable cause to believe a warrant for the person's arrest has been issued in Wisconsin.
• The arresting officer has probable cause to believe a felony arrest warrant has been issued for the person in Wisconsin or another state. A Wisconsin law enforcement officer may not arrest someone on a misdemeanor warrant issued in another state.

Unlike arrest warrants, bench warrants do not require a law enforcement officer to submit an affidavit before being issued. Bench warrants are issued directly by a magistrate or judge when a person fails to attend a scheduled court date or follow court-issued directives. Bench warrants usually do not mandate law enforcement to seek out the person named in them actively. Rather, they are entered into a database, allowing law enforcement officers to access them during routine checks, such as traffic stops. When a police officer finds an individual with an active bench warrant, they are authorized to arrest and bring them before the judge. Consequently, the person may be held in custody until a hearing to determine the next action.

Warrantless Arrest

Law enforcement generally can make a warrantless arrest if the officer has probable cause to believe a person is committing or has committed a crime. However, for a law enforcement officer to enter a person's home to arrest the person without a warrant, permission is required by a person of legal standing or probable cause, and "exigent circumstances" must exist. Wisconsin does not consider minor traffic offenses as exigent circumstances. For a situation to be considered as an exigent circumstance, one of the following must generally apply:

• There must be an immediate threat of escape
• There must be an immediate threat of destruction of evidence
• There must be an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm to the officer or another
• There must be hot pursuit
• The person is being pursued for a jailable offense
• As directed by case or statutory laws

Warrant arrests and warrantless arrests in Wisconsin can generally be made for felonies and misdemeanor crimes.

What Are Wisconsin Arrests Records?

A Wisconsin arrest record is a report created by Wisconsin law enforcement upon an individual's arrest. It details the record owner's interactions with Wisconsin law enforcement authorities.

An arrest record is often mistaken for a criminal record; however, they are different. An arrest record typically only details information about an arrest and does not contain conviction information. A criminal record generally contains arrest records and other information such as court dates, convictions, sentencing, parole or probation information, and information about dropped cases. A criminal record is a thorough document detailing a person's entire criminal history.

A Wisconsin arrest record generally contains the following information:

• Description of the incident for which the arrest was made
• The date and location of the arrest
• The physical description of the person arrested, such as hair color, sex, height, weight, and ethnicity
• Personal information, such as the name, phone number, date of birth, address, Social Security number, and known aliases of the arrestee
• Mugshots
• Fingerprints
• Charges filed
• Classification of the charges filed
• Bail information

How Can Arrest Records Be Accessed in Wisconsin?

Per the Wisconsin Public Records Law, arrest records are public records, and anyone may access them by sending a request to the appropriate custodians. Note that some arrests may be unavailable to the public if they have been sealed or expunged in line with a relief option afforded to the arrestees. If a record has been sealed, a court order will be required to make it available to the public.

If the arrest record you intend to view has not been expunged, you may access it in any of the following ways:

Wisconsin Centralized Criminal History (CCH) Database

Criminal history records in Wisconsin are maintained in the central fingerprint-based criminal history repository managed by the Department of Justice Crime Information Bureau (CIB). The repository is housed in a database containing detailed information about arrests, arrest charges, and other court information. It is an aggregation of information submitted by Wisconsin law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecutors, and the state Department of Corrections.

To request a record check, visit the Wisconsin Online Records Check System to submit a request. You will need to register a user account to use the system.

Local Police Departments

Under state law, local police departments and County Sheriff's Offices responsible for arrests may provide public access to arrest records. You may visit any of these locations to request the arrest records of anyone arrested by the law enforcement officers working in those departments. Some Wisconsin police departments and county offices even provide online access for arrest record requesters. For instance, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, La Crosse County Sheriff's Office, and the City of Beloit Police Department provide arrest records in some form on their websites.

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access

The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) website provides access to public records of circuit courts in Wisconsin. The information on the website is generally an exact copy of the information entered into the case management system used by courts in the counties where case files exist. Arrest records are part of the case information available on the WCCA website. You may visit the WCCA website to conduct a check for an arrest record via the criminal background check feature of the website. You will need the arrestee's name and date of birth to perform the search.

How Long Will an Arrest Report Stay on Your Wisconsin State Records?

If you have been convicted of a crime, the arrest record stays on file with the state indefinitely. However, if you have had the arrest record expunged, it will not be accessible in a background check by employers, landlords, and the public.

Arrest records maintained on the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access may be removed from the online portal after several years. Arrest records for criminal cases that resulted in an acquittal or dismissal may be removed from the WCCA portal after two years. The retention schedule for other types of offenses includes:

• Class A felony: 75 years
• Class B- I felony: 50 years
• Misdemeanor: 20 years
• Family: 30 years
• Criminal traffic: 20 years
• Civil matters not related to small claims: 20 years

Removing an arrest record from the WCCA portal does not indicate that an arrest record no longer exists.

Can You Expunge Your Arrest Records in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin permits the expungement of arrest records in limited circumstances. Its expungement laws are more stringent than those of many other states in the country.

Arrest information in criminal history records in the state is accompanied by an arrest fingerprint card. The state allows the removal of an arrest fingerprint card when the individual arrested was released without charge or cleared of the offense via court proceedings on the charges for that arrest.

If you were found not guilty after your arrest, the court or prosecutor dismissed the charges against you, or no charges were filed by the prosecutor, you may be eligible to have the arrest record expunged. Your fingerprint record will be removed if you meet all the stated criteria. Also, if the arrest information being expunged from your Wisconsin criminal history record was sent to the FBI, the FBI will be contacted to remove the arrest information from its records.

If you were convicted of an offense, the arrest information does not qualify to be removed even if the court record was expunged. Wisconsin courts may only expunge convictions where:

• Pursuant to Section 973.015 of the Wisconsin Statutes, misdemeanors or certain felonies committed occurred when you were under the age of 25 when provided at sentencing and successfully completing any sentence
• Juvenile delinquency adjudications upon request once you reach the age of 17

To apply for the removal of your arrest record, submit a completed Fingerprint Record Removal Request form to:

Note that if you are ineligible for the removal of an arrest record under Section 165.84 (1) of Wisconsin Statutes, you may request Executive Clemency from the Wisconsin Governor. Executive clemency does not remove arrest information from your criminal history record but may restore some rights, which will be noted on your record.

Is a Citizen's Arrest Legal in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has no specific law granting private citizens the authority to make arrests. However, judicial decisions have recognized the common law idea of a "citizen's arrest." This means that a private citizen may arrest someone only for a felony or a serious misdemeanor, constituting a breach of the peace. If the offense committed is legally classified as a felony, a citizen's arrest is straightforward. However, a "misdemeanor constituting a breach of the peace" is less clearly defined.

Only two reported cases in Wisconsin address which misdemeanors qualify for a citizen's arrest. In the 1963 case Radloff v. National Food Stores, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a citizen's arrest is limited to misdemeanors that "involve, threaten, or incite violence." In this case, a simple theft was not deemed severe enough to permit a citizen's arrest.

More recently, in the 1991 case Waukesha v. Gorz, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals determined that operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OMVWI) qualifies for a citizen's arrest. The court reasoned that this offense threatens public security and involves violence, thus constituting a breach of the peace.

Note that the use of force by private citizens in a citizen's arrest is limited to situations relating to self-defense, defense of others, or defense of property. Also, neither Wisconsin statutes nor Wisconsin courts have provided sufficient guidance on how much force a private citizen can use to effect a citizen's arrest.

How to Look Up Arrest Warrants in Wisconsin

You may look up an arrest warrant in Wisconsin using any of the following means:

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) portal

While the WCCA portal allows users to view arrest records, you may also check if an arrest warrant was issued for an individual. You may visit the WCCA portal and conduct a search by the name or date of birth of the individual in question. From the search result, you can typically determine if an individual has an arrest warrant issued for them.

Visiting Local Law Enforcement

Wisconsin police departments and county sheriff's offices keep records of arrest warrants for arrests made by their officers. You may visit your local police department or the county sheriff's office to check if a warrant has been issued for an individual. You may be able to find arrest warrant information online from the websites of the local PD or county sheriff's office. For instance, the Dane County Sheriff's Office, the Sauk County Sheriff's Office, and the City of Janesville Police Department provide active arrest warrants online access.

Courthouses

You may also look up arrest warrants by visiting courthouses in Wisconsin. Courts in the state maintain records of arrest warrants as part of court information filed for proceedings held in them. Some of these courts have public access terminals within their buildings for users to search case information. Others provide online access in addition to public access terminals. For instance, Mid-Moraine municipal court offers online access to a warrant list.

Wisconsin Judiciary Search Site

The Wisconsin Judiciary Case Search generally allows users access to case information for court proceedings in the state. For example, you may access arrest warrants by searching the state judiciary search site by name or case number.

Hiring an Experienced Attorney

Using the services of an attorney may be invaluable when trying to check whether an active arrest warrant is out for you or another person. An attorney understands the Wisconsin legal system and knows precisely where to look for warrants. They are generally more experienced and may help navigate legal procedures efficiently. Also, an attorney protects your privacy and typically can negotiate with the court or law enforcement to resolve the matter requiring an arrest warrant without complications.