Eau Claire County

Eau Claire 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 2020.

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

• Eau Claire70,322
• Altoona8,878
• Washington town7,593
• Lake Hallie village7,285
• Pleasant Valley town3,839
• Seymour town3,300
• Union town2,624
• Bridge Creek town2,388
• Brunswick town1,848
• Fall Creek village1,493
• Augusta1,341
• Lincoln town1,177
• Ludington town925
• Clear Creek town880
• Drammen town681
• Fairchild town500
• Wilson town498
• Fairchild village414
• Otter Creek town394

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

• Eau Claire Police DepartmentCity police department73,060 served
• Eau Claire County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police26,448 served
• Altoona Police DepartmentCity police department9,539 served
• Augusta Police DepartmentCity police department1,476 served
• Fall Creek Police DepartmentCity police department1,382 served
• University of Wisconsin: Eau ClaireCollege 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.