Bayfield County

Bayfield 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

Mapping Pretrial Injustice listed its risk tool in 2021 as the COMPAS.

MediaJustice and Movement Alliance Project, Mapping Pretrial Injustice county map (data as of fall 2021)

From Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a map compiled by MediaJustice and the Movement Alliance Project, advocacy groups that campaign against pretrial risk assessment tools. Its data is from fall 2021; CrimeDB uses it only where no court, government, or research list covers the county.

• Ashland7,902
• Washburn1,884
• Russell town1,413
• Iron River town1,294
• Barksdale town881
• Cable town859
• Barnes town854
• Eileen town811
• Bayfield town709
• Bayview town615
• Grand View town584
• Kelly town584
• Washburn town568
• Bayfield565
• Drummond town560
• Hughes town555
• Oulu town477
• Namakagon town420
• Keystone town360
• Bell town345
• Port Wing town345
• Mason town322
• Tripp town308
• Delta town265
• Lincoln town261
• Pilsen town235
• Orienta town225
• Clover town183
• Mason village93

Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Bayfield County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.

• Bayfield County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police13,036 served
• Washburn Police DepartmentCity police department2,058 served
• Iron River Police DepartmentCity police department1,292 served
• Bayfield Police DepartmentCity police department593 served

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.