Dane County

Dane County follows Wisconsin law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.

Who decides release first

For most misdemeanors, a police officer or the jail can take cash bail under the statewide misdemeanor bail schedule. For felonies, a circuit court commissioner or circuit judge sets bail at the initial appearance. Wisconsin bars paid bail bondsmen, so sureties must be unpaid people.

Wis. Stat. 969.07Wis. Stat. 969.065Wis. Stat. 969.12Wis. Stat. 757.69(1)(b)Wis. Stat. 968.075(2m), (5)

Time to see a judge

A person who is arrested must be taken before a judge within a reasonable time in the county where the offense is charged. Wisconsin law sets no number of hours.

Wis. Stat. 970.01(1)

Money bail

Wisconsin courts may set cash bail. A surety must be a state resident and an unpaid natural person, so commercial bail bonds are not allowed.

Wis. Stat. 969.12

Courts

The circuit court in each county hears every felony and misdemeanor. Many cities, towns, and villages have a municipal court, but it hears only local ordinance violations punished by fines, not crimes.

Wis. Const. art. VII, secs. 6-7Wis. Stat. 755.045

Judges and magistrates

Voters elect circuit judges to six-year terms on a ballot with no party label. The chief judge of each judicial district appoints circuit court commissioners, who can hold initial appearances and set bail and must have been licensed lawyers for three years. Municipal judges are elected to terms of up to four years.

Wis. Const. art. VII, sec. 7Wis. Stat. 5.60(1)Wis. Stat. 757.68Wis. Stat. 757.69SCR ch. 75Wis. Stat. 755.01-.02

Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Municipal courts are left out of limited_courts because they hear only ordinance forfeiture cases. wispd.org returned errors, so the defense section rests on statute. Whether municipal judges must be lawyers was not checked; it doesn't affect criminal cases.

Pretrial practice

Advancing Pretrial lists it as a Public Safety Assessment site since 2017.

Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research, PSA sites list (page modified 2026-06-03)

• Madison Police DepartmentMadison city287,992 served
• Dane County Sheriff's OfficeCounty79,497 served
• Sun Prairie Police DepartmentSun Prairie city40,109 served
• Fitchburg Police DepartmentFitchburg city35,168 served
• Middleton Police DepartmentMiddleton city22,703 served
• Verona Police DepartmentVerona city17,623 served
• Waunakee Police DepartmentWaunakee village16,747 served
• Stoughton Police DepartmentStoughton city13,128 served
• Deforest Police DepartmentCity12,650 served
• Oregon Police DepartmentCity12,065 served
• Cottage Grove Police DepartmentCottage Grove town9,444 served
• McFarland Police DepartmentCity9,266 served
• Monona Police DepartmentMonona city8,604 served
• Mount Horeb Police DepartmentMount Horeb village7,815 served
• Edgerton Police DepartmentCity6,187 served
• Town of Madison Police DepartmentMadison city6,090 served
• Cross Plains Police DepartmentCross Plains village4,201 served
• Marshall Village Police DepartmentCity3,743 served
• WI0131500City2,683 served
• Belleville Police DepartmentCity2,669 served
• Shorewood Hills Police DepartmentShorewood Hills village2,161 served
• WI0137200City1,769 served
• Brooklyn Police DepartmentCity1,536 served
• WI0131200City1,515 served
• Maple Bluff Police DepartmentMaple Bluff village1,314 served
• WI0131400City1,110 served
• Blue Mounds Police DepartmentBlue Mounds village911 served
• Capitol PoliceOther State Agency
• University of Wisconsin: MadisonUniversity or College

Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.