Waukesha County
417,210 people, served by 25 police agencies that report to the FBI.
How a case moves here
Waukesha 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.
What this county does differently
- 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)
Cities and towns
- Waukesha71,233
- Brookfield41,273
- New Berlin40,270
- Menomonee Falls village39,539
- Muskego25,406
- Oconomowoc19,080
- Pewaukee16,211
- Sussex village12,066
- Lisbon village10,736
- Hartland village9,972
- Oconomowoc town8,832
- Waukesha village8,514
- Mukwonago village8,415
- Merton town8,278
- Pewaukee village8,196
- Delafield town8,079
- Mukwonago town7,792
- Vernon village7,481
- Delafield7,202
- Genesee town7,193
- Brookfield town6,459
- Elm Grove village6,459
- Summit village5,114
- Ottawa town3,644
- Merton village3,550
- Eagle town3,507
- Wales village2,902
- Dousman village2,479
- North Prairie village2,385
- Eagle village2,054
- Butler village1,859
- Lannon village1,482
- Nashotah village1,354
- Big Bend village1,291
- Chenequa village742
- Oconomowoc Lake village669
- Lac La Belle village259
Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Waukesha County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.
Police agencies
- Waukesha County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police96,602 served
- Waukesha Police DepartmentCity police department71,542 served
- Menomonee Falls Police DepartmentCity police department41,236 served
- Brookfield Police DepartmentCity police department41,216 served
- New Berlin Police DepartmentCity police department40,264 served
- Muskego Police DepartmentCity police department25,927 served
- Oconomowoc Police DepartmentCity police department20,479 served
- No name WI0681500City police department16,564 served
- Hartland Police DepartmentCity police department10,381 served
- Village of Lac La Belle Police DepartmentCity police department9,141 served
- Mukwonago Police DepartmentCity police department8,562 served
- Pewaukee Village Police DepartmentCity police department8,232 served
- Mukwonago Town Police DepartmentCity police department7,835 served
- Delafield Police DepartmentCity police department7,297 served
- Brookfield Township Police DepartmentCity police department6,467 served
- Elm Grove Police DepartmentCity police department6,380 served
- Summit Police DepartmentCity police department5,482 served
- Lannon Police DepartmentCity police department2,250 served
- North Prairie Police DepartmentCity police department2,216 served
- Eagle Village Police DepartmentCity police department2,145 served
- Butler Police DepartmentCity police department1,765 served
- Big Bend Police DepartmentCity police department1,504 served
- Nashotah Police DepartmentCity police department1,312 served
- Oconomowoc Lake Police DepartmentCity police department569 served
- Chenequa Police DepartmentCity police department536 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.
Crime
The crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Wisconsin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 271 | 239 | 301 | 281 | 264 | 68 | 297 |
| Murder | 5 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1.3 | 5 |
| Rape | 87 | 61 | 70 | 78 | 74 | 19 | 40 |
| Robbery | 34 | 26 | 19 | 26 | 17 | 6.2 | 41 |
| Aggravated assault | 145 | 145 | 208 | 171 | 169 | 42 | 212 |
| Property crime | 3,005 | 2,869 | 2,862 | 2,880 | 2,330 | 703 | 1,285 |
| Burglary | 188 | 186 | 191 | 183 | 130 | 44 | 143 |
| Larceny | 2,619 | 2,506 | 2,489 | 2,558 | 2,090 | 618 | 937 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 198 | 177 | 182 | 139 | 110 | 41 | 206 |
| Arson | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1.3 | 7 |
Outside the crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Wisconsin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All offenses outside the crime index | 5,518 | 6,028 | 6,084 | 6,312 | 6,054 | 1,513 | 2,474 |
| Simple assault and intimidation | 899 | 965 | 998 | 1,155 | 1,113 | 259 | 571 |
| Vandalism | 814 | 762 | 787 | 737 | 528 | 183 | 422 |
| Fraud | 1,234 | 1,142 | 1,089 | 1,342 | 1,034 | 295 | 262 |
| Drug abuse violations | 1,900 | 2,262 | 2,297 | 2,230 | 2,524 | 565 | 834 |
| Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc. | 212 | 350 | 380 | 307 | 327 | 79 | 198 |
| Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing | 33 | 34 | 40 | 27 | 38 | 8.7 | 23 |
| Forgery and counterfeiting | 91 | 142 | 129 | 140 | 123 | 32 | 37 |
| Embezzlement | 58 | 48 | 51 | 50 | 35 | 12 | 12 |
| Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution) | 176 | 172 | 132 | 153 | 130 | 38 | 47 |
| Prostitution and commercialized vice | 7 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 28 | 3.5 | 4.9 |
| Gambling | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 0.1 | ||||
| Other Group A offenses | 93 | 150 | 165 | 154 | 174 | 37 | 63 |
| Manslaughter by negligence (not in the total) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 1.4 |
| Human trafficking (not in the total) | 10 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 2.7 | 1.8 |
Offenses agencies in Waukesha County reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the reporting agencies police, 2021 to 2025 added together, beside Wisconsin's rate over the same years. Agencies that reported part of a year are counted with their people, as the state's rates count them. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.
Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Wisconsin: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.