Buffalo County, WI Sheriff's Office, Jails and Inmate Lookup

About Buffalo County  

Buffalo county is a small county on the shores of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. The county is named after the buffalo river that traverses it. It has several famous towns and cities, such as Buffalo, Alma, Fountain City, and Mondovi. The county was established in 1853 and organized in the subsequent year after it received its first permanent residents in 1839.  

Due to the county’s land, natural features, and river, it has been a hub for lumbering and agriculture. The land in the county mainly consists of prairies, with most of the farming land on the river banks. The county experienced a great boom in wheat production during the civil war that resulted in a boom in its population post-war. However, as the land was overused, most county residents shifted to dairy farming. Agriculture remains the main economic activity of the county’s 13,317 residents.  

About Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office  

Buffalo county sheriff is an elected government official elected for a four-year term and can seek reelection. The sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county. Buffalo county has been under the leadership of Sheriff Mike Schmidtknecht since 2007. The sheriff’s office is located in Alma, the county capital, at the Buffalo County Circuit Court.  

The county sheriff’s roles are well-defined within the Wisconsin state constitution that places the sheriff at the heart of enforcing the law, preserving peace, and keeping the public calm by creating a peaceful environment for all citizens. The specific task charged with the office include:  

• Maintaining the 911 Emergency number  
• Traffic Enforcement  
• Criminal Investigations  
• Custody of Jail  
• Emergency Management  
• Court Services  
• Preparing accident Reports  
• Public Records  
•  Overseeing Sheriff Sales  

The sheriff’s office does not only have the sheriff but a whole team of professionals that help the office execute its mandate for all the residents in the county. The sheriff’s office is divided into several divisions, operations, and support services to ensure all the citizens approaching the sheriff’s services are served effectively. Some services are available 24/7 all around the year, including holidays. The employees working with the sheriff are hired competitively in an open manner and taken through requisite training for some posts to ensure they serve the resident to the best of their ability.  

The county sheriff’s office partners with the police department in helping it to apprehend criminals and conduct investigations for optimum service delivery. Additionally, the sheriff’s office posts valuable information to the public on the county website and the Facebook page to keep the resident in the loop of what is happening around them and any precautions they may need to take.  

The Sheriff’s office also manages the county jail. The institution has 65 beds and works on many programs to reduce and keep crimes down in the county with reintegration programs for inmates. The jail has minimum security since it mainly works as a temporary holding facility or for people serving sentences for misdemeanors. Buffalo County Jail has 261 bookings but just 32 inmates, thanks to the county’s low population and reintegration programs.  

Buffalo County Inmate Search  

Buffalo county has 120 jails with an average daily population of 402 inmates and a standing inmate population of 120. Unfortunately, there is no online list of all the inmates you can glance at to confirm whether your loved one was at the jail. There is a lot of false information and claims that the county has an online inmate roster or phone application on the play store that you can access the jail records.  

However, you can use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the county sheriff’s office to get detail from all the twelve prisons in different cities and towns in the county. Simply visit the Sheriff’s office with details of the inmate you would live to find out their whereabouts, and you will get assistance. You can also contact the sheriff’s communication department for the same information. Additionally, you can visit or call any of the jails for information on the inmates housed in the jails. The jail record may not include detail such as court dates or any other information not covered by the FOIA request.  

You can also file the FOIA request to the Federal Bureau of prisons. The FOIA request must follow guidelines set out in the law. All requests must be in writing and marked: “Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Request,” on the envelope. You must clearly state the record you need, the dates, and your full name and address.  

Buffalo County Sheriffs Department

Address

407 South 2nd Street, Alma, Wisconsin, 54610

Phone

608-685-4433

County Jails in Buffalo County, WI

Police Departments in Buffalo County, WI

Buffalo County, WI Incarceration Statistics

Buffalo County, WI Jail Inmate Population, Jail Pretrial Population and Confined Population, for 2010-2015 years

Buffalo County, WI Female Population, Rate & Count for 2010-2015 years

Buffalo County, WI Male Population, Rate & Count for 2010-2015 years

Buffalo County, WI Incarceration Rates by Race, for 2010-2015 years