The county's list is a weekly report, not a live roster. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Jail Bookings page from the Sheriff's Office.
2. Open the newest booking summary. The dates at the top tell you which week it covers.
3. Look up the surname inside the PDF with your browser's search box or the Ctrl+F keys.
4. Read that line. It shows the booking date and time, age, home town and each charge.
5. Look at the booking type. It may say a new arrest, an arrest warrant, a sentence to serve, a probation or parole violation, or a writ from the state or another county.
6. Write down the date and charges before you call.

Many people leave soon after they are booked. To see whether they are still inside, check VINELink or call the jail at 608-742-6476.

A missing name is common. These are the usual reasons:

• Booked after the report. The newest arrests show up only when the next report goes up.
• Out already. Many people go home within hours, on a signature bond or after paying cash.
• In another jail. People picked up across the county line are booked there. Someone serving a state sentence may be at the state prison in Portage, which the county does not run.
• Different spelling. A name can be entered with a typo, a formal first name or a maiden name, so scan the rows nearby.
• Younger than 17. Children under 17 are handled by county youth intake staff.

For a fast answer, call the jail at 608-742-6476 and ask for Booking. The Sheriff's Office main line is 608-742-4166.

The Sheriff's Office runs two buildings at one address, 403 Jackson Street, Portage, WI 53901. Both share the phone 608-742-6476.

• Columbia County Jail. This is the secure jail, with 165 bunks on three floors. Floor one handles intake, holding and special cells. Floor two houses men. Floor three houses men who need tighter security, plus all women.
• Huber Center. It opened in 2005 with room for 192 more people. It is for people a judge sentenced with Huber, so they can leave for work and return. It has its own kitchen, laundry, medical room and program space.

Huber workers need one job of at least 32 hours a week, unless the court orders school or child care. Employers mail paychecks to the jail, and Huber fees come out first. Some Huber inmates can apply for electronic monitoring at home instead. The jail decides based on space and the rules.

The Sheriff's main building at 711 East Cook Street, Portage, WI 53901 is a different spot. Visits and mail go to Jackson Street. For an arrest near a county border, also try these neighbor jails:

• Adams County Jail, 401 Adams Street, Suite 1, Friendship, WI 53934, 608-339-4239
• Dane County Public Safety Building Jail, 115 West Doty Street, Madison, WI 53703, 608-284-6100
• Dodge County Jail, 216 West Center Street, Juneau, WI 53039, 920-386-3734

No. The weekly report has names, ages, towns and charges only, without mugshots or booking photos. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 608-742-4166 if you want a booking photo. Wisconsin's open records statute (Wis. Stat. 19.35) covers that kind of request. Wisconsin presumes such records are public. Nobody has to explain a request or give a name to make one. The records custodian weighs each request. Police records about youths stay private.

• News outlets may ask that same office.
• To get an immigration booking photo, ask ICE using its FOIA request page.
• Federal booking pictures are generally withheld, though the U.S. Marshals Service may share one to help find a fugitive.

Yes, if you sign up. The county points families to VINE for checking who is in custody. The state runs WI VINE County Jails at no cost, without asking who you are, in English, Spanish or Hmong. It answers three things: is the person in custody, which jail has them, and when a release or a transfer to another jail happens.

• Search by name on VINELink, then register to be notified.
• Or call 888-944-8463 (1-888-WI-4-VINE) to check status or register.

An alert can arrive late. If timing matters, call the jail at 608-742-6476.

In Wisconsin a judge sets release terms. Jail staff only collect a bond that is already set. At the first hearing the judge starts from release. Plenty of people leave on a signature bond: they promise in writing to come back, and money is owed only after a no-show. The judge orders cash only when it seems necessary to get the person back to court. For violent crimes, community safety can be weighed as well.

• A bail surety cannot be paid for it in this state, so there are no bondsmen (Wis. Stat. 969.12). Family members pay the full cash amount themselves.
• At the jail, bond can be paid in the lobby with cash or a credit card. Fees apply.
• On a felony charge, no bond can be posted at booking. The person waits for the first court hearing.
• Bond can also be posted at any Wisconsin sheriff's office that allows it.
• Keep your receipt. If the person is convicted, the money can go to fines, costs or restitution. A missed court date can mean losing it.
• Still locked up 72 hours after that first hearing because the terms cannot be met? State law then makes the judge review them.

Call 608-742-6476 to ask if bond is set. Read our bail page for each step, and our Wisconsin bail law summary for the state rules.

The weekly bookings report lists each charge with its Wisconsin statute number, a short description and the offense date. These are arrest charges. The District Attorney decides what gets filed in court, so they can change.

Once a case is filed, type the name into Wisconsin Circuit Court Access. It is free. It lists the charges, upcoming hearings and where the case stands. You can also call the prosecutor at the District Attorney's Office, 400 DeWitt Street, Portage, WI 53901, 608-742-9650.

At the initial appearance, a judge must explain that the defendant may have a lawyer. People who cannot afford one are referred to the State Public Defender. Its office for this county is at 2520 West Wisconsin Street, Suite 105, Portage, WI 53901, 608-581-7770.

• An adult facing a misdemeanor or felony charge may qualify if money is short, judged by the office's own financial test.
• The application takes about 15 minutes. The public defender's apply page shows how.
• Turned down by the public defender? The court may appoint a county-paid attorney, so raise it with the judge.

A private lawyer can be hired instead. Under the state's jail rules, attorneys get reasonable visiting times.

Every visit is by video. Book it ahead on cidnet.net, the site the jail names. A Friends and Family Guide in English and Spanish is posted there too.

• From home: 7 days a week, 6:00 to 10:30 a.m., 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• At the jail: Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. or 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. Each visit is 20 minutes.
• Bring a valid state photo ID. Teens and children come with a parent or guardian. For ID, kids can use a school ID, birth certificate or Social Security card.
• Come 20 minutes early. Expect a metal detector and maybe a search.
• Purses, backpacks, food, drinks, tobacco and lighters stay in a free locker or your locked car.
• Each person inside gets one visit a day. Keep children with you and off the visiting counter.

Staff may turn away anyone jailed in the past 90 days, anyone with contraband, or anyone drunk or disruptive. Visits can be limited without warning. Our visiting guide adds more pointers.

Jail staff do not take money for people inside. Choose one of these:

• The kiosk in the jail lobby, 403 Jackson Street, Portage, WI 53901.
• The website jailatm.com, which the county names for deposits.
• A money order made out to the person, sent by mail.

Each cash deposit costs $3.00. A card deposit costs $3.00 or 10% of the total, whichever is more. Ask the jail at 608-742-6476 what the money can buy. For deposit options in general, read our money guide. Our commissary guide covers what people can order.

People inside can usually use the phones from the end of morning cleaning until the nightly lockdown. To get their calls, open a phone account on cidnet.net, the same site used for video visits.

Staff will not pass along messages unless they confirm a true emergency. Call 608-742-6476 to ask about tablets, texts or email, and whether calls are recorded. Save anything about the arrest itself for the defense attorney. Our pages on inmate phone accounts and jail email and messaging go further.

Write the person's full name, then this address:

Columbia County Jail
403 Jackson Street
Portage, WI 53901

• Every letter needs your full return address.
• Use only #10 (business size) envelopes.
• Money orders made out to the person may be mailed.
• No packages, by mail or by courier.
• Letters are copied in black and white, and the person gets the copy.

Before you mail, call 608-742-6476 and ask if you should add a booking number. For broader advice on jail letters, read our mail guide.

The person in jail has to ask first. They send in a request at least 24 hours ahead that names the exact items and who will collect them. After that, call 608-742-6476 to ask when to come and what to bring.

Staff will not accept clothing or other things you bring in, except prescription medicine that is properly labeled and packed.

Two nurses work at the jail. Under DOC 350, the state's jail standards, the Sheriff must make sure people get needed doctors' care, mental health help and urgent dental work. Being broke cannot block anyone from care. A health screening must happen inside the first 14 days a person is jailed.

If you are worried, call 608-742-6476 and ask for medical staff. Be ready to name the drug, the amount taken each day and the prescriber's phone. Labeled prescriptions can be dropped off. Each jail must also have a grievance process with an appeal. Questions about jail standards go to the state Office of Detention Facilities, 3099 East Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53704, 608-240-5000.

Deputies from the Sheriff's Office serve warrants; phone 608-742-4166 with questions. The Sheriff has an active warrants page with a printable warrant list. Check the date on it, since it can be months old, and never try to catch anyone listed. Search the case on Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, where a missed hearing can hint at a warrant. To clear a warrant, first get a lawyer's advice. Then either walk in to the jail, 403 Jackson Street, Portage, WI 53901, or ask the Clerk's office about getting back on the court calendar. The Clerk of Circuit Court is at 400 DeWitt Street, Portage, WI 53901, 608-742-9835.

Search the name on Wisconsin Circuit Court Access. It is free and lists each hearing once a case is filed. Criminal cases are heard at the courthouse, 400 DeWitt Street, Portage, WI 53901, about five blocks west of the jail. The first hearing is usually by video from the jail, and the public may watch from the courtroom.

The room can change from day to day, so call the Clerk of Circuit Court's criminal desk at 608-742-9643. Later dates are handed out in court. From first appearance to sentencing, our court guide maps each stage.

Federal crimes charged in this area go to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Clerk's office: Room 320, Robert W. Kastenmeier U.S. Courthouse, 120 North Henry Street, Madison, WI 53703, 608-264-5156.

1. At a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142), the judge weighs whether any conditions can assure court attendance and public safety. If none can, the person stays jailed until trial.
2. Before trial, the U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for federal prisoners. Call its Madison office, 120 North Henry Street, Suite 440, Madison, WI 53703, at 608-661-8300 to ask which jail holds the person.
3. Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin helps people who can't pay: 22 East Mifflin Street, Suite 1000, Madison, WI 53703, 608-260-9900.
4. The BOP inmate locator finds people serving federal time.

When immigration officers want someone in the Portage jail, this is the typical path:

1. ICE delivers a detainer, federal Form I-247A, to jail staff.
2. Under that paper, ICE is asking the jail to hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Officers collect the person. Inside Wisconsin, ICE holds detainees at the Dodge County Jail, 216 West Center Street, Juneau, WI 53039. It also sends people to sites in the other states its Chicago office covers.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. If you know the A-number, enter it. Nothing found? Call the ICE Chicago Field Office, 101 West Ida B. Wells Drive, Suite 4000, Chicago, IL 60605, 872-351-3990.

Our research turned up no Wisconsin statute on detainers. A 2025 Assembly bill on sheriff help with federal immigration work had not become law at its last step in June 2025. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 608-742-4166 how it handles a detainer.

After a prison sentence, the Department of Corrections starts with intake. Intake usually lasts eight to twelve weeks while staff assess needs and security level. After that, DOC assigns a permanent prison and transfers the person once space opens. Families of men in intake should know there are no visits during the first 3 days there.

• Search by name on DOC's Inmate and Offender Search.
• Felony crimes on or after the last day of 1999 carry a two-piece prison term. First the confinement is served, and then the person lives under extended supervision in the community. No parole board shortens these terms.
• Our Wisconsin state prison guide has a page for each prison.

Wisconsin charges 17-year-olds as adults, and they land in the Jackson Street jail like anyone older. Kids 16 and under go through juvenile intake at the county Department of Health and Human Services, 111 East Mullett Street, Portage, WI 53901, 608-742-9227. Its Division of Children and Families answers at 608-742-9234, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. After hours, call the Sheriff's Office at 608-742-4166.

State law says intake must be ready around the clock, and no youth may be locked in detention without an in-person intake talk, with few exceptions. The county runs no youth detention center of its own. A nearby one is the Dane County Juvenile Detention Center, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 200, Madison, WI 53703, 608-266-4983. Ask intake where the youth was placed. A youth who stays locked up must get a court hearing fast. The deadline is 24 hours from the end of the day staff decided to hold the youth, skipping Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.

The county's population is about 58,888, per the Wisconsin DOA state estimate for Jan. 1, 2025. One of the agencies below likely made the arrest. Jail staff can say which.

• Sheriff's Office, 711 East Cook Street, Portage, WI 53901, 608-742-4166
• Columbus Police Department, 159 South Ludington Street, Columbus, WI 53925, 920-623-5919
• Fall River Police Department, 641 South Main Street, Fall River, WI 53932, 920-484-3707
• Lodi Police Department, 142 South Main Street, Lodi, WI 53555, 608-592-5401
• Portage Police Department, 117 West Pleasant Street, Portage, WI 53901, 608-742-2174
• Poynette Police Department, 118 South Main Street, Poynette, WI 53955, 608-635-2588
• Randolph Police Department, 136 West Stroud Street, Randolph, WI 53956, 920-326-4620
• Rio Police Department, 207 Lincoln Avenue, Rio, WI 53960, 920-992-5454
• Wisconsin Dells Police Department, 712 Oak Street, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965, 608-253-1611. Parts of the city lie in other counties.
• Wisconsin State Patrol, DeForest Post, 911 West North Street, DeForest, WI 53532, 608-846-8500

The villages of Arlington, Cambria, Doylestown, Endeavor, Friesland, Pardeeville and Wyocena, and the towns, have no department on the county's list. For an arrest in one of those places, the Sheriff's Office can say who responded.