How to Use the Milwaukee County Inmate Search
The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office runs the jail and the custody search. Sheriff Denita Ball leads the office. The In Custody Locator is the public roster, and it shows current occupants of the county jail. The tool is simple, but the occupant profile behind each booking holds useful detail. Always treat the data as a starting point, since the Sheriff cannot guarantee its accuracy.
The Sheriff's main page links the jail, court services, and records functions. You can reach it from the Milwaukee County Sheriff page, and the roster lives at the In Custody Locator.
The Sheriff's homepage is the gateway to the Milwaukee County jail roster and the office that keeps custody records.
- Open the In Custody Locator from the Sheriff's site.
- Enter a last name, the most reliable single field.
- Add a first name, gender, or birth year to cut down common-name results.
- Click Search and scan the result rows.
- Open a booking number to view charges, bail, and custody detail.
Milwaukee County Inmate Search Fields
The locator asks for only a few things. Last name and first name are plain text. Gender is a dropdown that defaults to Unknown, with Male and Female as options. The birth field is labeled "DOB (yyyy)," so it wants only a four-digit birth year, not a full date. The page also offers English, Spanish, French, and German.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Text | Practical | Search by occupant surname. |
| First Name | Text | No | Narrows the result list. |
| Gender | Dropdown | No | Unknown, Male, or Female. |
| DOB (yyyy) | Text | No | Four-digit birth year only. |
| Search | Button | n/a | Runs the search. |
| Clear Search | Button | n/a | Resets the fields. |
A common surname returns many rows. One Smith search returned 41 entries, so a first name or birth year helps a lot.
Reading the Milwaukee County Jail Roster
The result grid is short. It lists a booking number, the name in last-first order, the height, and the weight. The booking number is the key. Click or double-click it to open the occupant detail. The grid does not show a birth date, race, charge, or custody date, so those live in the detail view or are not posted at all.
Use the booking number when you call the jail, since staff can find a person faster with it. The roster is built for current custody, not history, so it will not show someone who was released yesterday.
What a Milwaukee County Occupant Profile Shows
The occupant detail carries more than the grid. An inspected profile showed the name, a mugshot behind a "Click to View Image" link, height, weight, hair, and eye color. It listed a bail or fine amount, the custody date, and a location code such as HOC. A charge table held the case number, charge, description, severity, bail, type, court date, and court branch.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking Number | The key identifier for the custody record. |
| Physical Descriptors | Height, weight, hair, and eye color. |
| Bail or Fine | Amount set, plus type such as cash. |
| Custody Date | The date the occupant was booked in. |
| Location | Facility code for where the person is held. |
| Charge Table | Case number, charge, severity, bail, and court branch. |
| Hold Table | Hold reason and agency, when one applies. |
The profile does not show a release date, a booking time, the arresting agency, race, or a cell. It also does not post medical, mental-health, or security flags. For those, the roster is not enough, and a booking is not a conviction.
Milwaukee County Jail Facilities
The county holds people in two main places. The Milwaukee County Jail operates through the Criminal Justice Facility downtown. The Community Reintegration Center sits in Franklin. Detention Services covers health care, records, the warrants desk, programs, phones, mail, property, commissary, bail, and visitation.
The Detention Services page is the source for visitation, mail, commissary, property, bail, and program rules.
Criminal Justice Facility
949 N. 9th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53233
Jail records on the G-level
Property: (414) 226-7171
Money: (414) 226-7172
Community Reintegration Center
8885 S. 68th Street
Franklin, WI
County reintegration facility
Commissary kiosk on site
Bail and Money for Milwaukee County Occupants
Bail can be posted at the Jail Cashier's Office or kiosk on Level G of the Criminal Justice Facility. The office takes cash, cashier's checks, money orders, and major credit cards. A valid ID is required. Cashier's checks must be payable to the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office.
Refunds take time. If bail is refundable, a check is mailed to the poster within about three weeks after the case closes. Bail over $1,000 may need a refund affidavit and can take three to four weeks after the case updates in the state system. Bail will not be refunded if the defendant fails to appear or if it is applied to a fine.
Commissary money is separate. When an occupant is booked, a commissary account is created. Friends can add money online through Access Corrections, by phone at (866) 345-1884, at kiosks, or through walk-in retailers. The daily deposit limit is $300, and deposits can take up to 24 hours to post.
Visitation, Mail, and Commissary
Milwaukee County Jail uses offsite video visits. Visits help occupants stay in touch with family. Every visit is monitored and recorded. Personal recording of a visit is banned and can cost any occupant in the jail their visiting privileges. The county upgraded its video system and provides tablets for education and entertainment.
| Item | Rule / Detail |
|---|---|
| Visit type | Offsite video visits. |
| Monitoring | All visits monitored and recorded. |
| Personal recording | Prohibited; can end visiting privileges. |
| Scheduling | Create an account and schedule online. |
| Fee schedule | Set by the provider; check before scheduling. |
Mail has its own rules. Address letters with the full name, booking number, housing unit, and cell number, then 949 N. 9th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53233. A full return address is required. Letters, small non-Polaroid photos, cashier's checks, and money orders are allowed. Greeting cards are not permitted, and all incoming mail is scanned for contraband.
Jail Programs and Health Services
The jail runs programs alongside custody. Medical, dental, and mental health services are provided by a contracted health provider. Education runs through Milwaukee Public Schools, and occupants ages 14 to 17 can earn high school credits or a diploma. About 135 active volunteers contribute hundreds of service hours.
Program topics are broad. They include general education, tutoring, parenting, health education, substance-use recovery groups, anger management, and spiritual study. These programs support reentry, which connects to the Milwaukee County released inmates page.
Sheriff Records and Jail Records Office
The Sheriff's Office keeps jail and law-enforcement records under Wisconsin Public Records Law. The Jail Records Office on the G-level of the Criminal Justice Facility handles occupant information, bail, records and identification, and the warrants desk. Some law-enforcement records can be redacted or withheld under statutory limits.
The Sheriff public records page points requesters to the records division and the state public-records law. For court-side records, use the Milwaukee County court records page instead.
State Prison and Sex Offender Records
The county jail is not the only place a person may be held. People sentenced to state prison or supervision show in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections offender locator, not the county roster. The DOC system covers convicted offenders sentenced to DOC incarceration or supervision. It does not list county jail occupants or juveniles.
The Wisconsin DOC Offender Locator is the right tool when a Milwaukee County inmate has moved to state custody.
Sex offender information is a separate registry. It was established under state law and lists people with qualifying convictions, generally on or after December 25, 1993. It is not a full criminal history.
The Wisconsin DOC Sex Offender Registry supports name, geographic, and community-notification searches.
The registry rests on Wis. Stat. § 301.46, which governs what registry information is public.
A Milwaukee County Booking Is Not a Conviction
A booking is an arrest record, not a verdict. The Sheriff's locator states plainly that booking into the county jail does not establish guilt or conviction. It also warns that the data should not be relied on for legal action and may not be accurate. Many charges are later reduced, amended, or dropped before a case ends.
For the case outcome, search the court system, where the filed criminal case shows charges, pleas, and any judgment. The jail roster and the court file are different records, and only the court file shows how a case ended. Acting on a booking alone can also raise legal risk, since discrimination based on an arrest or conviction record may violate Wis. Stat. § 111.335.
Phones and Property at the Milwaukee County Jail
Occupants can make outgoing calls only. The jail does not connect incoming calls. Friends and family can deposit money for prepaid call privileges, and other calls are collect, with prompts to accept, hear prices, or refuse.
Property has strict rules. Jury clothing may be dropped off no sooner than 48 hours before a jury trial at the 949 N. 9th Street visiting desk with a valid ID. Accepted items include suitcoats, sweaters, shirts, and pants. Hangers, shoes, belts, ties, and socks are not accepted. To release an occupant's property, the occupant must request a Property Release form at least 24 hours ahead, and the person picking up must be at least 18 with a valid photo ID.
Note: Families often arrive expecting same-day property release, but the 24-hour form rule means a person should call ahead before going to the jail.
What the Milwaukee County Locator Does Not Show
The roster is useful, but it has limits. It shows current custody and basic charge and bail detail. It does not show a release date, a booking time, the arresting agency, race, or a cell. It posts no medical, mental-health, suicide-watch, or protective-custody flags. A person not on the list may have been released, transferred, booked under another name, or moved to state or federal custody.
So the locator is a starting point, not the whole story. Pair it with the court case in WCCA, the Jail Records Office for current status, and the state or federal locators when a transfer is possible. The released inmates page walks through how to verify a release step by step.