Eau Claire County bail and bond: paying cash bail at the clerk or the Second Avenue jail
Adults arrested in Eau Claire County are held in the Eau Claire County Jail at 710 Second Avenue. Look the person up on Eau Claire County Inmate Search to see if they are in custody and what bail was set. Wisconsin bans bondsmen, so you pay the court's cash bail yourself: at the Clerk of Courts on weekdays and at the jail after hours. Central Control, 715-839-4707, answers around the clock.
How do I confirm that someone is in the Eau Claire jail?
Enter the name on Eau Claire County Inmate Search. Adults arrested in the county are booked into the Eau Claire County Jail, 710 Second Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54703, and the search shows custody status and any bail.
Central Control at the jail never closes. Call 715-839-4707 for questions the search leaves out.
Where is the Clerk's counter for cash bond, and when is it open?
Go to the Clerk of Courts in the Government Center, 721 Oxford Avenue, Suite 2220. It opens Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and its number is 715-839-4816.
Have the person's full name ready, plus the case number if one has been assigned. The clerk completes the paperwork that lets the jail release the person.
Where do I pay at night, on a weekend or on a holiday?
Go to the jail itself at 710 Second Avenue. Money paid at the jail kiosk is credited to the defendant's own account, so tell staff what you intend before you put cash in. Central Control, 715-839-4707, can walk you through it.
Cards used for a bond after hours, on weekends or on holidays are handled on the next business day. Plan around that delay if you want the clerk to process the card.
Which payment methods work for an Eau Claire County bond?
Only cash and credit cards. The cards accepted are Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express, and a 5 percent service fee is added.
You can pay by card online at allpaid.com with pay location code a005Lp, or call 888-604-7888 and give the same code. Afterward, phone the Clerk of Courts at 715-839-4816, or the payment waits until the next business day.
Why is no bail bondsman available in Eau Claire?
Wisconsin does not license or allow them. Under Wis. Stat. 969.12, a surety is a natural person who lives in Wisconsin, and the statute forbids paying any surety for the role.
So the money you hand over is the court's own cash bail. Do not pay anyone who calls offering to arrange release for a fee.
Who gets the bond money back, and how long does it take?
The person who posted the bond is the one who gets a refund, unless the court orders something different. The county issues refunds after the case is resolved and every assessment, including restitution, has been applied.
Refunds usually take six to eight weeks. Checks are printed twice a month and mailed, so the poster must send any address change in writing. Court costs, fines, restitution and court-appointed attorney fees can all be taken from the bond.
Could I owe the defendant's court costs if I post the bond?
The county warns bond posters to think about personal exposure for the defendant's financial obligations. If the person is convicted, money left in the bond is applied to those debts before any refund.
That follows Wis. Stat. 969.03(4), which sends leftover deposit money to restitution first and the judgment second. Think about that before you put up money for someone who is likely to be convicted.
What does pretrial monitoring mean in Eau Claire County?
A judge can order pretrial monitoring as a form of release that involves no money. The person must report in person to the Pretrial Services office within 48 hours.
Since 2020 the county has used the Public Safety Assessment, a scoring tool that rates the chance of a new offense and of missing court. Higher-risk cases are supervised at the Community Transition Center.
Where is the pretrial office and when is it open?
Eau Claire County Pretrial Services is in the Government Center, 721 Oxford Avenue, Suite 2330, Eau Claire, WI 54703. It is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except holidays.
Check the written release order for the exact reporting deadline, and call the Clerk of Courts at 715-839-4816 if you need a copy of it.
How quickly will a judge look at my brother's arrest?
The law gives a judge a reasonable time to see an arrested person. Court decisions treat 48 hours as the limit for a probable cause finding after a warrantless arrest, and hearings can run by video.
The Warrant Division at 715-839-4704 handles warrants from 721 Oxford Avenue, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Clerk of Courts holds the hearing calendar.
When is bail limited, and when can it be denied?
A misdemeanor bail can never exceed the top fine for that offense, and a felony has no chart. A judge can set money bail only after a finding that it is needed to assure appearance, or after weighing the total circumstances of a violent-crime charge.
Wis. Stat. 969.035 permits denial in narrow cases. The prosecutor must request it, the hearing starts within 10 days, and the proof standard is clear and convincing. Denial lasts up to 60 days after that hearing.
Does a probation hold or a hold from another county change things?
Yes. A probation hold during a violation investigation is not an arrest, so the 48-hour judicial review does not apply to it.
A person arrested in a different county must be brought before a judge there to set release conditions, or sent back to Eau Claire County. Ask Central Control which hold applies.
Why does a domestic abuse arrest take longer?
Officers must arrest when there are reasonable grounds and one of the statutory tests is met, such as visible injury or a finding that the person is the predominant aggressor. Release is barred until bail is posted or a judge has seen the case.
A 72-hour no-contact period then follows, covering the alleged victim's home and any contact through other people. A knowing violation carries up to $10,000 in fines and nine months in jail.
How does Huber release work at the Eau Claire jail?
Huber lets sentenced inmates leave for work, school, treatment or family care at set hours. The jail's Huber Center answers at 715-839-1662, and the application form is on the Sheriff's jail pages.
The court grants Huber, and the sheriff decides where the person stays. A person waiting for trial who cannot pay bail is not eligible, and wages go into a trust account that pays travel, board and family support.
What are the consequences of missing court after release?
The court can order the bail forfeited, issue a warrant and raise the amount. Knowingly breaking a bond term is also the crime of bail jumping (Wis. Stat. 946.49): a Class A misdemeanor when the open case is a misdemeanor, a Class H felony when it is a felony.
Every released person must report a new address to the clerk within 48 hours. Missing that step can lead to missed notices.
Where does Eau Claire County hold a juvenile?
The Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center is in Eau Claire, at 721 Oxford Avenue, and it is one of Wisconsin's 12 county-run secure youth facilities. The Clerk of Courts at 715-839-4816 can give the hearing date for a young person.
The Sheriff's Office, 715-839-4709, can say which agency took the youth into custody.
How do I get a public defender in Eau Claire County?
The State Public Defender's Eau Claire office is at 21 South Barstow Street, Floor 3, Eau Claire, WI 54701, phone 715-502-1490. It also covers Buffalo and Pepin Counties.
Raise the request for a lawyer at the first appearance. If the person is still held 72 hours after it, the judge can be asked to review the bail and conditions.
How do I put money on a jail account or visit the jail?
A jail account deposit buys phone time and commissary goods and is not bail. For anything beyond that, call Central Control at 715-839-4707 or the jail sergeants at 715-839-6248.
Visiting, mail and phone rules are on the Sheriff's jail pages, so check them before you travel.
Eau Claire County bail contacts
- Jail
- Eau Claire County Jail, 710 Second Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54703; Central Control, 24 hours, 715-839-4707
- Sheriff's Office
- Government Center, 721 Oxford Avenue; 715-839-4709
- Custody lookup
- Eau Claire County Inmate Search
- Clerk of Courts (bond, weekdays)
- 721 Oxford Avenue, Suite 2220, Eau Claire, WI 54703; 715-839-4816; Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Warrant Division
- 721 Oxford Avenue; 715-839-4704
- Pretrial Services
- 721 Oxford Avenue, Suite 2330; Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Public defender
- State Public Defender, 21 South Barstow, Floor 3; 715-502-1490
- Juvenile detention
- Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 721 Oxford Avenue, Eau Claire
Eau Claire County may change its fees, hours and phone lines, and each judge sets release terms case by case. Call Central Control or the Clerk of Courts before you send money. What you read here is general information, not legal advice.