Wisconsin

Wisconsin's elected county sheriffs are constitutional officers whose authority state statute substantially insulates from county boards. As of May 2026, no Wisconsin county has an enacted external civilian oversight body covering the sheriff. Milwaukee County is the most active: in 2024-2025 the County Supervisor's Office of Corporation Counsel issued a legal opinion confirming the County Board may create an advisory civilian review board for the Sheriff, but no ordinance had been voted on as of late April 2025. Milwaukee's Fire and Police Commission covers Milwaukee Police only.
Sheriff oversight
0/72 counties with a dedicated body 0 reports from those bodies
Other oversight
0 Civil Grand Jury reports 2 statewide oversight reports
Compare costs Compare Wisconsin sheriff departments side by side
72 sheriffs named · of 72 counties
Population, budget, $ per resident, staffing, and jail capacity across all 72 counties.

Data from CA State Controller's Office and CA State Sheriffs' Association.

State context

Wisconsin's 72 counties each elect a sheriff as a constitutional officer under the Wisconsin Constitution, Article VI, Section 4, serving a four-year term tied to the partisan general election. Statutory duties, including law enforcement, civil process, court security, and custody of the county jail, are set out in Wisconsin Statutes section 59.26. Wisconsin is a uniform, standard elected-sheriff state: no county has an appointed, civil-process-only, or state-employee sheriff, and the state has no consolidated city-counties or independent cities.

Milwaukee County, home to Wisconsin's only statutory first-class city and the only county required to use the county-executive form of government, elects a standard sheriff who runs the county jail, courts security, and highway patrol like every other Wisconsin sheriff. Menominee County, coextensive with the Menominee Indian Reservation, likewise elects a sheriff, alongside the Menominee Tribal Police Department's role in day-to-day law enforcement on reservation land. As of this writing, no Wisconsin county has an enacted external civilian oversight body covering its sheriff's office.

Counties

0 of 72 counties have a dedicated civilian sheriff oversight body. Highlighted rows have an established body. See methodology for scoring.

# County Status (date) Started (date) LE capability Independence

No record found · 72 counties

  • Adams
  • Ashland
  • Barron
  • Bayfield
  • Brown
  • Buffalo
  • Burnett
  • Calumet
  • Chippewa
  • Clark
  • Columbia
  • Crawford
  • Dane
  • Dodge
  • Door
  • Douglas
  • Dunn
  • Eau Claire
  • Florence
  • Fond du Lac
  • Forest
  • Grant
  • Green
  • Green Lake
  • Iowa
  • Iron
  • Jackson
  • Jefferson
  • Juneau
  • Kenosha
  • Kewaunee
  • La Crosse
  • Lafayette
  • Langlade
  • Lincoln
  • Manitowoc
  • Marathon
  • Marinette
  • Marquette
  • Menominee
  • Milwaukee
  • Monroe
  • Oconto
  • Oneida
  • Outagamie
  • Ozaukee
  • Pepin
  • Pierce
  • Polk
  • Portage
  • Price
  • Racine
  • Richland
  • Rock
  • Rusk
  • Sauk
  • Sawyer
  • Shawano
  • Sheboygan
  • St. Croix
  • Taylor
  • Trempealeau
  • Vernon
  • Vilas
  • Walworth
  • Washburn
  • Washington
  • Waukesha
  • Waupaca
  • Waushara
  • Winnebago
  • Wood