Follow these steps to check the list:

1. Load the jail lookup.
2. Type the surname. If dozens appear, add a given name.
3. No hits? Retry with a nickname, the middle name, an earlier last name, or a looser spelling.
4. Jot down whatever the entry shows.
5. Ring the jail at 715-261-1700 to make sure they are still there, and ask about bail and hearings.

Arrests from every department in the county are booked here. The jail also takes in people held for outside agencies from around Wisconsin and other states, so someone arrested far away can turn up on this list too.

Several everyday things can hide a name:

• Still being processed. Fingerprinting and paperwork happen before an entry appears.
• They were let go. A judge could have released them on a signature bond, or family covered the cash amount.
• They serve their sentence at home. People on electronic monitoring live at home with a tracker.
• A different agency holds them. Check the neighbor jails, the federal system and ICE.
• They are younger than 17. If held, teens that age stay at the youth center, apart from adults.
• A typo. Swap one letter and search again.

The jail can settle it fast at 715-261-1700. For records or general Sheriff questions, use the main line, 715-261-1200.

All adult custody sites belong to the Sheriff's Corrections Division. Each one has its own job:

• The county jail, inside the courthouse at 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403, 715-261-1700. Built in 1988, it gained 120 beds in 2000 and holds up to 279 people today. It houses adults picked up by any local department, along with people kept for agencies elsewhere in the state and nation.
• Huber office, staffed by the jail. Huber (Wis. Stat. 303.08) lets a person serving a sentence leave by day for a job, classes or treatment and sleep at the jail. Only the sentencing judge can grant it. Families also collect released property at this office, so ask the jail where it sits.
• Electronic Monitoring Program, where a person finishes a sentence at home wearing a location tracker. Only those rated minimum risk qualify, and sentences shorter than 7 days are left out. The program office is at 715-261-1321.
• Jail Intake Office, on the courthouse's second floor where 5th Street meets Washington Street, 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403. A person ordered to report for a sentence signs in here, usually within 45 days. The fee is $30 for day one and $18 for each later day.
• Marathon Juvenile Detention Facility, 7015 Packer Drive, Wausau, WI 54401, a secure center with space for 20 children between 10 and 17. Reach it through the Sheriff's Office at 715-261-1200.

Someone picked up close to the border with another county may sit in that county's jail instead. Two neighbors are the Langlade County Jail, 840 Clermont Street, Antigo, WI 54409, 715-627-6444, and the Clark County Jail, 517 Court Street, Neillsville, WI 54456, 715-743-5380.

A booking photo, known to most people as a mugshot, can be requested from the Sheriff's Office. Under Wisconsin's open records statute, anybody may put in a request for one. That law presumes public files should be open. Your name and your reason can stay private. Staff judge every request separately.

Phone the Sheriff's Office at 715-261-1200 to ask how to send a request. Reporters can ask the Sheriff's Office too. Juvenile police records are not public.

• Immigration booking photos are requested on ICE's records page.
• Federal government agencies rarely hand out booking photos. The U.S. Marshals Service is different: it may release one, such as when it seeks a fugitive.

VINE is a free service of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and county partners. With it you can check custody status at county jails that take part. Ask the jail whether it takes part. Sign up, and VINE will reach you by phone, text or email if that person is freed or transferred. No name is needed to sign up, and help comes in English, Spanish or Hmong.

• Go online to Wisconsin VINELink.
• Or use the VINE phone line, 888-944-8463.

When VINE comes up empty, phone the jail at 715-261-1700 to ask about release timing.

Who goes home, and on what terms, is settled by a judge at the person's first court date. The law (Wis. Stat. 970.01) asks for that hearing "within a reasonable time." Suppose officers acted without a warrant. Then a judge reviews whether they had good reason (probable cause), usually inside 48 hours. That hearing often runs on a video screen at the jail.

• Freedom comes first. Lots of people leave owing nothing up front. Their signature bond turns into a debt only if they skip a hearing.
• Cash bail comes into play only when a money stake looks needed to guarantee a return trip to court. In a violent case, the judge can also think about public safety and earlier violent crimes (Wis. Stat. 969.01).
• Bondsmen are banned. State law forbids charging a fee to post bail for someone (Wis. Stat. 969.12). Families have to put up every dollar themselves.
• Paying: the jail at 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403 takes bail all day and night, in cash or by credit card. JailATM handles online payment, but first call 715-261-1700 so an officer can load the bond. Hang on to your receipt.
• Bail can be kept to cover fines, costs or restitution after a conviction, even if family put it up. Skipping court can forfeit it.
• Stuck behind bars 72 hours after that hearing because the conditions are too hard to meet? A judge must look at them again (Wis. Stat. 969.08).
• Domestic abuse cases: the arrested person stays locked up until a judge sees them or bail gets paid. Then 72 hours of zero contact with the alleged victim follow (Wis. Stat. 968.075).

Our bail guide gives the details, and a short overview of state law sits on our Wisconsin bail rules page.

Staff at 715-261-1700 know the booking charge. The prosecutor may change that list after reading the police report. The formal charges appear in a criminal complaint, and the judge gives the defendant a copy at the first hearing.

Filed cases appear on Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the free state case search. Type the name to see every count, where the case stands and what is scheduled next.

The District Attorney's Office sits in Room 103 of the courthouse, 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403. Its victim-witness unit picks up at 715-261-1111.

For lesser crimes, state law caps jail at 9 months and the fine at $10,000 for a Class A misdemeanor. A Class B tops out at 90 days, a Class C at 30 days (Wis. Stat. 939.51).

The Wisconsin State Public Defender takes cases for adults facing misdemeanor or felony charges when their finances qualify. At the first hearing, the judge points anyone who says they can't afford counsel to this agency.

• Local office: 500 N Third St, Suite 310, Wausau, WI 54403, 715-842-1603.
• Applying: plan on a short interview of roughly 15 minutes. The agency's application steps are posted on its website.
• Turned away? The judge may be able to appoint counsel at county cost.

Private attorneys may see clients at the jail Monday to Friday during three windows: 8:00 to 10:50 a.m., 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Attorneys book video meetings at 715-261-1703.

Each person gets two on-site visits per week, with the week starting Sunday. Staff watch every visit, and each slot must be reserved a day ahead.

• Hours at the jail: weekends 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.; weekdays 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
• Booking a slot: sign up with Cidnet, the visit company the jail uses. Pick Videos, New Schedule, then Local, and choose the person and a time. Show up 5 to 10 minutes before it starts.
• Who may visit: each person can approve up to 3 visitors, and only an approved visitor may come. Children and teens may visit if their mom, dad or guardian is with them the whole time.
• Just got out yourself? Past inmates wait 60 days after release. Immediate family may ask a jail lieutenant to waive it.
• Video visits from home through Cidnet run every day, 9:00 to 10:40 a.m., 11:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Clergy come Wednesday and Friday from 10 to 11 a.m., and Tuesday and Thursday from 8 to 9 p.m. Officers may stop a visit at any point. Call 715-261-1700 with questions, and our visiting guide has extra tips.

Families have three choices:

1. Kiosk in the jail lobby, 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403, for cash or a credit card.
2. JailATM online, the deposit service the Sheriff points families to.
3. Postal mail. Phone 715-261-1700 to learn the address and which payment forms work. Never tuck cash inside a letter.

Debts owed to the jail come off the top: depending on the debt, half or the whole deposit may go toward it. Our deposit guide covers the basics, and our commissary page describes store items and ordering.

Phone the jail at 715-261-1700 to learn the current call setup, the per-minute cost, and if tablets or messages are an option. Find out if calls are taped. Leave any discussion of the case to private talks with the lawyer.

Setting up a calling account is explained in our inmate phone guide. For e-messages, see our jail email guide.

Letters must arrive by regular U.S. mail. Call 715-261-1700 for the correct address, and ask whether to add a booking number. Then keep these rules in mind:

• Write your complete name and return address on the envelope. Officers inspect everything that comes in.
• Polaroids and greeting cards are not allowed.
• Anything gang-related or sexually explicit is seized.
• Paperback books only, shipped direct from the publisher or an online seller.
• Magazines and newspapers must be mailed by the publisher on a subscription.
• Legal letters get opened only while the recipient looks on.

Our mail guide offers ideas on writing and sending.

Staff will not accept items brought in for someone in custody. Going the other way, a person inside may sign a few things out to you: keys, bank or credit cards, checkbooks and wedding rings. They do this on a Property Release Form with your name on it.

• Only the person named on that form may pick up.
• Carry a photo ID.
• Pickup is at the Huber office, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Once someone is released, anything left must be claimed within 7 days.

Call 715-261-1700 to find the Huber office and check that the form is done.

Wisconsin's jail rules (Wis. Admin. Code DOC 350) require medical care, mental health care and urgent dental care. Lack of money can't block treatment. New arrivals get a health screening within two weeks.

Tell the jail at 715-261-1700 which medicines they take, how much, and the prescribing doctor's phone number. If you sense a risk of self-harm, tell staff at once. For a true emergency, dial 911.

Each jail needs a way to file complaints, with an appeal. County jails are inspected once a year by the state's Office of Detention Facilities: 3099 East Washington Ave., Madison, WI 53704, 608-240-5000.

Phone the Sheriff's Office at 715-261-1200; staff can say if any warrant is active. For a matter inside Wausau city limits, try the police front desk at 715-261-7800. Have the birth date handy.

Next, look up the name on Wisconsin Circuit Court Access. A skipped hearing often shows there, and the Sheriff or the clerk can confirm if a warrant came next.

The safest way to resolve a warrant is with a lawyer's help: surrender together at the jail, 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403. Another route is asking the Clerk of Circuit Court, in that same courthouse, to set a fresh court date. Deputies at the main line can point you to the clerk's phone.

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is the quickest tool. Search by surname and given name, click the case number, and scroll to upcoming events. Public terminals for it sit in every courthouse in the state as well.

All criminal cases from this county go to circuit court at 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403, where the Clerk of Circuit Court keeps the files. For the clerk's number, ring the Sheriff's Office at 715-261-1200. First appearances are often done on camera from the jail.

Read our court page to learn what happens at each hearing.

This county belongs to the federal court's Western District. Clerk's office location: Robert W. Kastenmeier U.S. Courthouse, 120 N. Henry St., Room 320, Madison, WI 53703, 608-264-5156.

1. A judge soon holds a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142). It decides if the person can go home under rules or must stay in custody until trial.
2. The U.S. Marshals Service keeps federal defendants who are not released. Its Madison office: 120 N. Henry St., Suite 440, Madison, WI 53703, 608-661-8300. Ask where the person is housed.
3. To learn whether a federal defendant is held at the Wausau jail, call 715-261-1700.
4. Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin represents people who can't pay: 22 East Mifflin Street, Suite 1000, Madison, WI 53703, 608-260-9900.
5. After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator gives the facility where the person is serving it.

A hold from ICE usually follows these steps:

1. Jail staff in Wausau get a written ICE request on Form I-247A. This paper is the detainer.
2. It asks for the person to be kept up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Once ICE picks the person up, they may go to a site under the Chicago Field Office, 101 W. Ida B. Wells Dr., Suite 4000, Chicago, IL 60605, 872-351-3990. ICE detainees have been held in Wisconsin at the Dodge County Jail, 216 W. Center Street, Juneau, WI 53039, 920-386-3734.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It looks through ICE's own records of people it holds.

A 2025 bill in the Legislature, Assembly Bill 24, deals with sheriffs and federal immigration work. It passed the Assembly, and its record ends in June 2025 without it becoming law. To learn the local practice on holds, call the Sheriff's Office at 715-261-1200. ICE's Milwaukee check-in office is at 310 E. Knapp St., Milwaukee, WI 53202, 414-792-7198.

Someone sentenced to prison comes under the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Intake comes first. Over roughly 8 to 12 weeks, staff test each new arrival and decide where they fit, then place them in a prison that suits them. Men in the main intake prison get no visits for their first 3 days.

• Search names on the DOC Inmate and Offender Search.
• No parole applies to crimes from Dec. 31, 1999 onward. Prison time comes first, then a later period of extended supervision in the community.
• Details on prison visits and letters are in our Wisconsin prisons guide.

At 17, a Wisconsin teen accused of a crime is handled as an adult, from booking in the adult jail to adult court (Wis. Stat. 938.02). Younger teens follow the juvenile system instead.

• A county intake worker makes the call on whether a child goes home or stays in a locked unit. Intake runs around the clock, and with rare exceptions a child can't be locked up without first meeting that worker face to face (Wis. Stat. 938.067).
• Count 24 hours from midnight of the day the hold was ordered, skipping Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. By then, a held child must have a custody hearing (Wis. Stat. 938.21).
• The secure center is the Marathon Juvenile Detention Facility, 7015 Packer Drive, Wausau, WI 54401. It has 20 beds for ages 10 through 17.

Parents trying to locate a child or reach intake can call the Sheriff's Office at 715-261-1200.

The state's Jan. 1, 2025 estimate puts this county at 140,452 people. To see which agency made an arrest, look at the booking entry or ask jail staff. The main agencies are:

• Sheriff's Office, 500 Forest Street, Wausau, WI 54403, 715-261-1200. It runs the jail.
• Wausau Police Department, 515 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403. Front desk 715-261-7800; non-emergency dispatch 715-261-7795.
• Wisconsin State Patrol, Wausau Post (North Central Region), which serves this county, 715-845-1143.

If the record names a smaller city or village department, the Sheriff's Office can share its phone number.