Brown County

Brown 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 2019.

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

• Green Bay106,253
• De Pere25,301
• Howard village21,087
• Ashwaubenon village17,314
• Bellevue village16,442
• Allouez village13,975
• Suamico village12,985
• Hobart village10,610
• Ledgeview town9,248
• Lawrence town6,637
• Pulaski village4,006
• Scott town3,640
• Wrightstown village3,322
• Pittsfield town2,772
• Wrightstown town2,605
• Denmark village2,558
• Green Bay town2,019
• Morrison town1,798
• Rockland town1,787
• Eaton town1,672
• Holland town1,518
• Humboldt town1,493
• New Denmark town1,479
• Glenmore town1,034
• Greenleaf village865

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

• Green Bay Police DepartmentCity police department106,069 served
• Brown County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police101,107 served
• De Pere Police DepartmentCity police department25,465 served
• No name WI0050400City police department22,483 served
• Hobart-Lawrence Police DepartmentCity police department18,026 served
• Ashwaubenon Police DepartmentCity police department17,526 served
• Wrightstown Police DepartmentCity police department4,291 served
• Pulaski Police DepartmentCity police department4,028 served
• No name WI0050500City police department3,027 served
• University of Wisconsin: Green BayCollege or university police

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.