What are Madison Public Records?
The Wisconsin Open Records Law states that Madison public records contain information maintained or created by a government authority. Public records come in various forms, including information that has been written, drawn, or produced electronically. Some public records are classified as confidential and exempt from public view. Examples of records exempt by Wisconsin include the following:
- Any information that is exempt from disclosure by state and federal laws
- Investigative information obtained for law enforcement purposes (unless otherwise provided by law)
- Records or portions of a document containing information qualifying as a trade secret.
- Records containing the identity of law enforcement informants
- Records of plans or specifications of government buildings are exempt from public view.
- Financial identifying information that could identify a customer with a financial institution is exempt unless specifically required by law. This includes credit card numbers, debit card numbers, checking account numbers, or draft account numbers.
Public city records may also be accessible from third-party websites. Record seekers may use these non-governmental platforms to search for a specific document or multiple city records. However, users will need to provide enough information to assist with the search, such as:
- The address of the requestor
- A case number or file number (if known)
- The location of the document or person involved
- The name of the subject involved in the record (not juvenile)
- The last known or current address of the registrant
Third-party sites are not sponsored by government agencies. Because of this, record availability and results may vary.
Madison Crime Statistics
The Madison Police Department performs the task of collecting the yearly crime data for the city and transferring it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of its Uniform Crime Reporting(UCR) system. According to the UCR for 2018 and 2019, the city recorded a 2.4% rise in reported vehicle theft incidents. Meanwhile, cases of murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and arson all fell by 20%, 7.7%, 9.6%, 10.4%, 1.4%, 4.9%, and 43.75%, respectively. The city also recorded a fall of 3.8% in property crime cases and a fall of 9.8% in total violent crime.
Are Madison’s Criminal Records Public?
Criminal records for Wisconsin and its municipalities are generally considered public records, although there are exceptions. Some records may be exempted from public view or sealed by a court judge or state law. Criminal records and background checks are available to the general public in Madison through the Madison Police Department. The records come in the form of a letter and typically cover crimes and physical arrests in the City of Madison. Madison inmate records do not include any arrests where the offender was not booked into the county jail. They also do not have any pending criminal charges or outstanding warrants. Inquiries about these should be forwarded to the county circuit court or Madison Municipal Court.
The background check section of the Madison Police Department website provides downloadable request forms for background checks for different purposes. Requests can be made in-person to or by mailing the appropriate form to:
Madison Police Department
211 S. Carroll St, Room GR-10
Madison, WI 53703
Hours: Monday - Friday; 8am - 3:30pm
Phone: (608) 266-4075
Each mailed request must include the fee for the letter and a self-addressed and stamped envelope for the return of the record. The cost for the letter is $9 per name search, and the letter can be certified on request. The department requires prepayment for each request before it can be processed.
How to Obtain Police Reports and Arrest Records
The Records Section of the Madison Police Department is in charge of managing records for the department. It must maintain and process documents and handle external public records requests for the department promptly. Public record requests to the records section can be made in several ways. These include in-person requests, phone calls, online request forms, and mailing or faxing a written request. Requests in person are made by coming in person to the records section during office hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday at:
City-County Bldg, Central Police District,
211 S. Carroll St, Room GR10 Window
Madison, WI 53703
Oral requests can be made by calling the records section at (608) 266-4075. Written requests can be made by mailing the request to:
Madison Police Records
211 S. Carroll Street
Madison, WI, 53703
Written requests can also be faxed to the records section at (608) 267-1117. Interested parties can also request records from the records section by using the online general request form. Copies of the records will cost $0.02 per page for black and white copies and $0.07 per page for colored pages. Requests that total under $0.50 will be processed for free, but prepayment will be required before requests over $5 will be processed. Location fees will be charged if the cost of location i.e., identifying, searching for, and retrieving a record, costs $50 or more.
How to Find Sex Offender Information in Madison
Sex offender information for Madison can be obtained by visiting the website for the Wisconsin State Sex Offender Registry. This sex offender database is operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and provides search tools on the site to look up information online. The search tools are divided into name-based and geographical-based searches. This allows users of the site to search for sex offender information based on names or locations.
How to Find Madison Inmate Records
Inmates incarcerated in Madison will usually be held in one of the three facilities operated by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office. Information and records concerning inmates’ residing in these jails can be found online in the current residents' list on the sheriff’s office website. The list provides information about inmates such as names, mugshots, booking date, booking number, current facility, offenses, case number, arresting agency, and scheduled release date.
How Do I Visit an Inmate in Madison City Jail?
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office maintains and Operates three detention facilities, including the Dane County Jail, where offenders from Madison may be housed. Correctional facilities include the maximum-security facility that houses residents who are awaiting trial or who do not have work release privileges on their sentences.
City-County Building Jail
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Madison, WI 53703
The medium-security facility that houses residents sentenced to a jail term including work release duties and medium-security residents. The facility also contains the financial, property, and administrative sections of the jail and central booking.
Public Safety Building Jail
115 West Doty Street
Madison, WI 53703
The minimum-security facility for inmates who have work-release privileges.
William H. Ferris Center
2120 Rimrock Road
Madison, WI 53713
All residents in the facilities are entitled to two 45 minute visits per week. Walk-in visits are not permitted, and all visits must be scheduled. Visitors to the public safety building and the William Ferris center must sign up 24 hrs in advance. Residents at the City-County Building are responsible for informing their visitors of the visiting schedule at the facility. Visitors must be on time for their scheduled visits. Anyone arriving after their scheduled start time, regardless of the reason, will be denied. Record seekers can find full rules, regulations, and visitation schedules in the visitation section of the Dane County Jail website.
The Dane County Jail also provides offsite video visiting facilities. Visitors will be required to set up an account on the GettingOut website. For a fee of $0.25 per minute, visitors can have remote video visits to inmates at the facilities. Video visits can be scheduled between the hours of 7:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., 12:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., and 5:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
What are Madison Vital Records?
Vital Records for Madison are the documents that record the life events that have taken place within the city. These records include marriage, divorce, birth, and death records. Vital records are considered public records, and though anyone in public can access them, only authorized persons can obtain certified copies. Other requesters will receive uncertified copies marked as such that have the same information but can not be used for legal purposes or identity verification. Vital records for Madison can be obtained from their custodians at the Dane County Register of Deeds and the County Court.
Where and How to Obtain Madison Divorce Records
Eligible parties can obtain Madison's divorce records from the Dane County courthouse, where divorce cases are filed. Copies of the divorce judgment or divorce decree from the courthouse are obtained from the clerk of the court. They can be obtained in person by mailing, faxing, or emailing a written request to the records center. Interested persons should submit In-person and mailed requests to:
Dane County Courthouse
Room 1000
215 S Hamilton St.
Madison, WI 53703
Written requests can also be emailed to dane.courtrecords@wicourts.gov and be faxed to (608) 267-8859. The fee for copies of divorce records from the clerk of courts is $1.25 per page.
The County Register of Deeds(ROD) issues copies of the divorce certificates to requesters. The ROD has records of divorces dating from January 2016 to the present. Records outside this timeline are available from the Dane County Clerk of Courts or the Wisconsin Vital Records Services. Certified copies are only issued to authorized persons and those with a “direct and tangible interest." these include:
- Any of the couple named on the certificate
- Immediate family of either of the couple (including parents, children, siblings, grandparents)
- The legal guardian of either of the couple
- Legal representative authorized by any of the above individuals
Any other person will receive an uncertified copy of the divorce certificate. Requests are made by filling out the divorce certificate application form and submitting it to the register of deeds by mail or in person.
Mailed requests should include a self-addressed and stamped envelope, the fees, and a copy of a valid photo identification belonging to the requester for certified copies. There is a list of acceptable Identification on page 2 of the application form. All mailed requests should be mailed to:
Register of Deeds
P.O. Box 1438
Madison WI 53701-1438
Requesters in person should submit their completed application form to the ROD’s office at:
Suite 110
210 Martin Luther King
Madison, WI 53703
If requesting a certified copy, then the requester will need to show valid government-issued picture identification. Divorce records from the ROD will cost $20 for the first copy and $3 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. Record seekers can make payments in business checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders. Cash is also accepted during in-person requests. In-person requests are usually processed in 20 minutes, while mailed requests usually take around two weeks and a month for certified and uncertified copies respectively. Madison divorce records can also be ordered online via the official records online database, which Dane County maintains.
Where and How to Get Marriage Records in Madison
Marriage certificates are obtained from the Dane County Register of Deeds office. The register of deeds issues both certified and uncertified copies of the marriage certificate. Certified copies will only be issued to requesters who show a real and tangible need for the record. These individuals include:
- Either of the couple on the marriage certificate
- Immediate family of either of the couple (parents, children, brothers, sisters, and grandparents)
- Legal custodians or guardians
- Legal representatives such as lawyers and attorneys authorized by any of the above individuals
Requests are made by filling and submitting the marriage certificate application form in person, online, or by mail. In-person requesters will need to show a valid government-issued form when they submit the form to request a certified copy. Their application should be submitted to the register of deeds at:
Suite 110
210 Martin Luther King
Madison, WI 53703
Requests by mail should include a copy of valid government-issued picture identification, a self-addressed and stamped envelope, and the appropriate payment. A list of acceptable identification can be found on the second page of the application form. Mailed requests should be sent in to:
Register of Deeds
P.O. Box 1438
Madison WI 53701-1438
The fees for a marriage certificate from the register of deeds are $20 for the first copy ordered and $3 for each extra copy on the same order. Cash is accepted during in-person requests, but mailed requests should include a cashier’s or business check or money order for the appropriate sum.
If the marriage record is on file, in-person requests for certified copies will usually take 20 minutes. However, mail-in requests typically take two weeks. Uncertified copies have their own processing schedule and will usually be done in around a month. Marriage records can also be ordered online using the official records online website operated by Dane County.
Where and How to Find Madison Birth Records
Authorized persons can obtain birth Records for Madison from the Dane County Register of Deeds (ROD). Two forms of birth certificate are usually available from the ROD: a certified and an uncertified copy. The certified copies can only be issued to authorized individuals who show a real and tangible need to request the record. These people include:
- The person named on the birth certificate
- Their parents
- Immediate family (spouse, children, siblings, grandparents)
- Their legal guardian or custodian
- A legal representative of any of the above such as an attorney
Requesters ordering certified copies are required to provide a current picture ID or any of the identification listed on page 2 of the application form.
Obtaining Copies of Madison Birth Certificates
Birth certificate copies can be obtained from the register of deeds in person or by mail. To request a record in person, record seekers come into the ROD office at:
Suite 110
210 Martin Luther King
Madison, WI 53703
While there, the requester must fill and submit the birth certificate application form and pay the required fees. If requesting a certified copy, the requester must have a valid picture identification or otherwise prove their real and tangible need for the record. In-person orders will usually be completed within 20 minutes if the requester record is on file.
Mailed requests involve mailing the completed application, a self-addressed and stamped envelope, the correct fees, and a copy of valid identification to:
Register of Deeds
P.O. Box 1438
Madison WI 53701-1438
Birth certificates in Madison City cost $20 for the first copy and $3 for every additional copy ordered at the same time. Fees can be made in a cashier’s check, business check, or money order. Cash is also accepted during in-person requests, and most credit and debit cards are accepted with a $2.50 processing fee. Mailed requests are usually completed within two weeks, but requesters should note that uncertified records are processed in a month. Requesters may also obtain Madison birth records online using the official records online website run by Dane County.
Where and How to Find Madison Death Records
Madison City death records can be obtained from the Dane County Register of deeds Office. The record can be obtained either in person, by mail, or online. Certified copies of the death certificate will only be issued to authorized requesters who show a real and tangible need for the record. These individuals include:
- The parents and siblings of the deceased
- Current spouse of the deceased
- Children of the deceased
- Grandparents of the deceased
- Legal guardian or custodian of the deceased
- A legal representative of any of the above individuals such as a lawyer or attorney
Any requester requesting a certified copy of the death certificate is required to provide identification proving they are one of the authorized. Anyone else will receive an uncertified copy. Uncertified copies contain the same information but are marked as uncertified and cannot be used for any legal purposes.
To request a record in person, the requester must come in person to the register of deeds office at:
Suite 110
210 Martin Luther King
Madison, WI 53703
While at the office, the request is required to file the death certificate application form and submit it with the correct fees. If requesting a certified copy of the record, they must also present current picture identification.
To make a mailed request, the requester must send the request to the register of deeds mailing address at:
Register of Deeds
P.O. Box 1438
Madison WI 53701-1438
The mailed request should contain the completed application form, a copy of the valid identification for the requester, appropriate fees, and a self-addressed and stamped envelope. The death certificate for Madison costs $20 for the first copy and $3 for any additional copies ordered at the same time. Payments can be made in business or certified checks and money orders for mailed requests. Cash and for a $2.50 fee, most credit and debit cards are also accepted during in-person requests. Requests for certified copies are usually processed in 20 minutes for in-person requests and two weeks for mailed requests. Uncertified requests are typically processed on a different schedule and will usually be processed in one month plus any mail time. Death certificates can also be requested by following the instructions on the official records online database operated by Dane County.
