With room for 876 people, the list can run long. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Sheriff's inmate locator.
2. Enter the name if you see a search box. If you only see a table, press your browser's find shortcut.
3. Read the row. You will see the inmate number, cell location, bail or fine amount and custody date.
4. Copy the inmate number. The jail calls it the SPN, and mail and deposits both depend on it.
5. Double-click a row to see case details. They may include the charges.

The locator ends with a note that an arrest is not proof of guilt. If you cannot find the name, call 262-636-3929.

A missing name can have several causes:

• Too new. Staff are still processing the arrest, so the entry may come later.
• Already out. Bail could have been paid, or a judge could have let them go.
• Moved. The person could be in another jail, a state prison or federal custody.
• Different spelling. Try shortened first names, middle names and surnames used in the past.
• Too young. A child under 17 goes to a different system.

Call the jail at 262-636-3929 and ask for Booking. Also check the free court case search listed in the court-dates answer below. A charge may show there even when the jail list does not.

Racine runs one adult jail with a few parts. Everything below shares the street address 717 Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, WI 53403.

• Racine County Jail, 262-636-3929. This is the main jail for booking and for people waiting on court. It also holds people serving county sentences.
• Male Huber dorm, 262-636-3478, and female Huber dorm, 262-636-3369. These are work-release housing inside the jail for sentenced people the judge lets out for work, school or care.
• Day Reporting Center. The Sheriff runs it for sentenced people moving from jail back to the community. Call the jail line to learn where it meets.
• AODA program. This is a drug and alcohol treatment unit inside the jail. It lasts about 30 days.

Someone arrested close to the border might be in a neighboring county. These jails each have a page here:

• Kenosha County Pre-Trial Facility, 927 54th Street, Kenosha, WI 53140, 262-605-5111
• Kenosha County Detention Center, 4777 88th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53144, 262-605-5800
• Milwaukee County Jail, 949 N. 9th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53233, 414-226-7070
• Waukesha County Jail, 515 West Moreland Blvd., Waukesha, WI 53188, 262-548-7170

The locator's results list numbers, cell spots, bail and dates, and its text never mentions a photo, so do not expect one there. Call 262-636-3929 and ask whether the Sheriff's Office releases mugshots, also called booking photos.

You can ask for one through the state open-records statutes (Wisconsin chapter 19, sections 19.31 to 19.39). The records holder decides each request case by case. The state Department of Justice says records start out open, and you need not give your name or a reason. Police records about juveniles are not public.

• Reporters use the same public records request.
• ICE keeps its own photos. Send that agency a records request.
• Photos from federal arrests stay private. The U.S. Marshals Service alone may share one, for example in a fugitive search.

Yes. The jail's web page links to VINE, a free and private service run with the state Department of Corrections. It shows if a person is in a Wisconsin county jail, and it can warn you when custody changes. It is not only for victims. Anyone can use it, in English, Spanish or Hmong.

• Search or sign up at WI VINE County Jails.
• Or call 888-944-8463 any time.

A fast release can beat the alert, so look at the jail locator daily as well. A moved person may show a new cell or vanish from the list. Phone the jail for the true answer.

Release is decided by a judge when the person first appears in court. Before then, county staff run a risk check on the person and pass the results to the court, the prosecutor and the defense lawyer. Wisconsin starts from release. A judge may free someone on a promise to return, often called a signature bond. Cash bail is meant for cases where a promise would not be enough, and for some violent crimes.

• Wisconsin bans paid bail bondsmen. You pay the court system the full cash amount yourself.
• The jail takes bail all day, every day. You may pay with cash. Cashier's checks and money orders work too. Make checks and orders out to the Racine County Sheriff's Office. Bring photo ID.
• Cards work for a fee through GovPayNet.
• Keep the numbered receipt.
• A conviction lets the court keep bail money toward fines, restitution and costs, even if a relative paid it.

Our bail page explains each step, and the state's Wisconsin bail law page has the rules.

The Sheriff's locator may show the charges when you open a person's row. A brand new case may need a day or two before it appears. The court file holds the formal charges.

Use Wisconsin Circuit Court Access to search by name for free. You get the listed offenses, coming court dates and the status of each file. The prosecutor files the final charges, often within days of arrest. Crime victims and witnesses can call the Victim Witness office of the District Attorney. It is on the 2nd floor of the Racine County Courthouse, 730 Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, WI 53403, 262-636-3858.

At the first court appearance, a judge explains that a lawyer may help. Someone who lacks the money gets referred to the State Public Defender.

• Racine trial office: 212 4th Street, Suite 200, Racine, WI 53403, 262-638-7530
• You can start at the public defender's apply page. The form takes about 15 minutes.
• A refusal from that office is not the end. Ask the judge about a lawyer paid by the county.

You may also hire a private attorney. Jails must let attorneys visit at reasonable hours, and attorney mail is opened with the person watching and only glanced over.

Most visits are by video. These rules come from the jail's older web page, so call to verify before you go.

• Sign up online with an approved account, then book a time on the same site. Or book at one of two stations in the Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, WI 53403.
• Visits at the public video center inside the Main Street entrance are free. Visiting from home or work costs a small fee.
• Hours are daily from 8 to 11 a.m., 1 to 4:30 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m.
• Two visitors per station. One must be 18 or older. Children count toward the two.
• Cameras are not allowed.

Face-to-face visits without contact are for people on minimum or work status. They run 20 minutes, on Sundays. Bring photo ID. Up to four visitors, children included, may come. People still in intake get no visits until they are given a floor. Anyone on discipline status loses video visits. See our visiting guide.

Money on the account pays for commissary, medical fees, Huber fees and other charges the jail allows.

• In person: use the kiosk at the 24-hour jail entrance off 8th Street, at the jail address. It takes cash, money orders and cashier's checks. Fees run $2.95 for $20 or less, $3.95 for $21 to $100 and $4.95 for $101 to $200. The most per deposit is $200.
• Online: the county jail page has a link to deposit funds.
• Questions: the account vendor, TouchPay, answers at 866-204-1603.

Have the full name and inmate number ready. A balance left at release comes back on a debit card. A negative balance can follow the person and may go to collection. Read our money guide and commissary guide. Never mail cash.

The jail's web page has a link for inmate voicemail. Call 262-636-3929 and ask how to receive calls, what they cost, and whether texts or tablets are offered. Ask too if calls are recorded.

Assume the jail may listen. Keep the case for the lawyer. Our phone calling page and page on messages and email show what is typical.

Address the envelope this way:

Full Name
SPN number
Housing unit (for example, FLOOR 2B 8L)
Racine County Jail
717 Wisconsin Avenue
Racine, WI 53403

• An envelope lacking the name, SPN or unit can be turned away.
• No store-bought or homemade cards, postcards or laminated items.
• Photos can be 4x6 at most, with no Polaroids. Children must be fully clothed.
• No stickers, glitter, perfume, tape, glue, markers or gel pens. Put no stamps or envelopes inside.
• Mail of more than five pages is not screened and goes to secure property.
• Books come only from six approved publishers and must be softcover. Two are allowed at a time.

Mail sent to a home address is refused, except legal, Social Security or human services mail. Drop it at the 8th Street entrance around the clock. Our mail guide adds tips.

Property taken at booking stays in the jail until release. Family can pick up items from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, except holidays. Call 262-636-3929 first and ask for the property room.

Prescription glasses and clothes for a jury trial can be left at the 8th Street entrance at 717 Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, WI 53403. Bring jury clothes the day before the trial.

Nurses work in the jail around the clock. A contracted company provides medical, dental and mental health care, with a small fee for visits. State jail rules bar turning anyone away for lack of money, and every new arrival gets a health review within two weeks.

• Staff cannot talk about one person's health by phone without a signed release form from the person.
• Send health facts by fax to 262-636-3470, or drop them at the lobby window off 8th Street.
• Bring a valid, current prescription to the same window. The jail doctor decides on it. Over-the-counter drugs and supplements must be bought through commissary.
• Glasses with a written prescription, breast pumps, and CPAP or oxygen machines are accepted.

In an emergency, call 911. For anything else, call 262-636-3929 and say plainly if you fear a crisis.

Sheriff's deputies serve warrants. For child support warrants, call the Warrants Deputies at 262-636-3356. For any other warrant, ask the jail. No county warrant list exists to link, so asking is the way. Search your name on Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, where a missed court date may show. If you want it cleared, get legal advice first. Next, report to the jail at 717 Wisconsin Avenue, Racine, WI 53403, or call the Clerk of Circuit Court about a new date. The jail can post set bail at any hour.

Every crime in Wisconsin is heard in the county's circuit court, in Racine. The court office can name the date and courtroom for a case. The jail can tell you where to call.

• Search by name with Wisconsin Circuit Court Access. It is free, and public computers use it at the courthouse too.
• Without an arrest warrant, the police need a judge to confirm probable cause, normally inside 48 hours. Often it is a video link from the jail.
• For a felony, a preliminary hearing follows. It happens inside 10 days when the person stays jailed on bail above $500. If freed, the limit is 20 days.
• Traffic tickets and local ordinance tickets go to a city, village or town court. Read the ticket for the court's name.

Our court guide explains each stage.

Racine falls under the Milwaukee Division of the federal Eastern District. Its court sits at the U.S. Courthouse, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave., Room 362, Milwaukee, WI 53202, 414-297-3372.

1. A detention hearing comes at the start. The judge picks jail or home until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service keeps people before trial, often at a local jail. The Milwaukee, Kenosha and Waukesha jails each have an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal detainees. Call the Marshals at 517 E. Wisconsin Ave., Room 711, Milwaukee, WI 53202, 414-297-3707.
3. A person without money for counsel can reach Federal Defender Services at 414-221-9900.
4. After sentencing, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

1. ICE mails or faxes Form I-247A to the jail. Its name is a detainer.
2. Under that form, a jail may be asked to keep someone up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). The Sheriff's Office can tell you how it handles these requests.
3. ICE then takes the person. One Wisconsin site named in ICE inspection papers is the Dodge County Jail in Juneau. The Chicago Field Office, 101 W. Ida B. Wells Dr., Suite 4000, Chicago, IL 60605, 872-351-3990, covers the state.
4. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It needs a name plus the country of birth, or else an A-number. If you get no hit, phone the field office.

The ICE check-in office is at 310 E. Knapp St., Milwaukee, WI 53202, 414-792-7198.

Once a judge sends a person to state prison, a reception stage comes first. Staff study needs and risks for roughly two to three months. Only then does a long-term prison get picked. The men's reception site bars visitors for three days.

• Look up the name in the Corrections department's offender tool.
• Our page on Wisconsin prisons covers visits and mail.
• A felony sentence for a crime since Dec. 31, 1999 has two halves: time inside, then supervised life outside. Parole does not apply.

Seventeen is the line. Racine treats a charged 17-year-old the same as any grown-up, so the jail and court are the grown-up ones. Anyone younger goes through juvenile intake.

• Human Services, Youth & Family office: 1717 Taylor Avenue, Racine, WI 53403, 262-638-7720, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Ask if this is where intake happens.
• Youth held by the court stay at Jonathan Delagrave Youth Development and Care Center. Ask the office above for its street address and phone.

An intake worker has to meet the youth face to face before any lockup. After a hold, a hearing follows within 24 hours of the hold decision. The clock skips weekends and legal holidays. For the most serious cases, the state uses Lincoln Hills School for boys and Copper Lake School for girls.

Racine County had about 200,014 people on January 1, 2025 (state estimate). Know these agencies:

• County dispatch for the Sheriff's Office and police and fire calls, 262-886-2300, non-emergency. Ask it to connect you to the right department.
• Sheriff's patrol, 262-886-9465.
• Mount Pleasant Police, 8811 Campus Drive, Mount Pleasant, WI 53406, records and admin 262-884-0454.
• Caledonia Police, 5045 Chester Lane, Caledonia, WI 53402. Non-emergency calls go to county dispatch.
• Waterford Police, 262-534-2119. The Village hires them under contract. Village Hall is 123 N. River Street, Waterford, WI 53185. The Sheriff's Waterford area line is 262-534-5166.
• Wisconsin State Patrol, Waukesha Post, 21115 E. Moreland Blvd., Waukesha, WI 53186, 262-785-4700.

For the City of Racine and other cities and villages, call county dispatch above and ask for the department that made the arrest.