Kenosha County

Kenosha 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.

• Kenosha99,372
• Pleasant Prairie village21,669
• Salem Lakes village14,366
• Somers village8,216
• Twin Lakes village6,309
• Bristol village5,207
• Wheatland town3,348
• Randall town3,256
• Paddock Lake village2,947
• Genoa City village2,942
• Paris town1,438
• Brighton town1,381
• Somers town929

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

• Kenosha Police DepartmentCity police department99,483 served
• Kenosha County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police40,764 served
• Pleasant Prairie Police DepartmentCity police department21,937 served
• Twin Lakes Police DepartmentCity police department6,328 served
• Genoa City Police DepartmentCity police department2,885 served
• SILVER LAKECity police department2,445 served
• University of Wisconsin: ParksideCollege 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.