About the State of Wisconsin  

The State of Wisconsin, also nicknamed the Badger State, is a Midwestern state bordering Michigan, Minnesota, and Lake Superior in the north, Illinois in the south, Minnesota and Iowa in the west, and Lake Michigan in the east. It boasts of more than 15,000 lakes, five distinct geographical regions, diverse flora and fauna, and black prairie soils ideal for top bean production nationwide. Besides, Wisconsin is famous for its cheese and museums. Indeed, the National Historic Cheesemaking Center (a cheese museum) in Monroe, Wisconsin, makes a 90-pound wheel of Swiss every second Saturday in June. And the world’s largest known dinosaur skull is preserved at the Milwaukee Public Museum in Milwaukee. 

Wisconsin Department of Corrections  

Overview 

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) is an executive branch of the state of Wisconsin, overseeing the incarceration of convicts in the region. The department has its headquarters at 3099 East Washington Ave., Madison, WI 53704, and is reachable at (608) 240-5000 or online at its official website. From here, it oversees state prisons in Wisconsin; ensuring inmates get access to proper care and supervision. Likewise, the department of corrections has elaborate parole and probation systems to oversee community supervision. That way, it guarantees safety for the inmates, visitors, correctional officers, and support staff in its jurisdiction.  

The Correctional Facilities 

WDOC supervises five maximum security correctional facilities, 11 medium-level correctional facilities, three minimum security correctional facilities, 14 correctional centers, and three women’s correctional institutions. Check out the detailed list of these adult correctional facilities here.  

Next, the department of corrections runs the division of juvenile corrections and regional offices, comprising Copper Lake School, Lincoln Hills School, Grow Academy, Northwest Regional Offices, and Southeast Regional Offices. Also, there is an interstate compact for juveniles tasked with supervising juveniles on parole or probation. 

The Services 

Wisconsin Department of Corrections offers an array of services geared towards giving offenders opportunities for positive change and success. Indeed, these services enhance the department’s reentry efforts to guarantee the successful reintegration of inmates into the community. Here is a summary of the services: – 

• Primary Treatment Services – Anger management, cognitive behavioral program, domestic violence, employability, substance use disorder program, dual diagnosis, challenge incarceration, earned release program, and sex offender treatment  
• Education Services – Adult basic education, high school equivalency diploma, career technical education, special education, and college programs 
• Library Services – General collection, interlibrary loan service, and legal collection 
• Religious Accommodations – Facilitates individual religious practices through religious observances in holding facilities, religious diets, religious property, pastoral visitation,  

• Bureau of Correctional Enterprises – Runs agriculture, logistics, industries, and transition facilities that provide jobs and training opportunities for inmates.  
• Re-Entry Services – COMPAS Reentry Assessment for inmates with 6 – 9 months remaining before release 

Community Corrections 

Finally, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections provides community service opportunities for its parolees and probationers, including:  

• Crafts projects 
• Donations projects 
• Woodworking projects 
• Crocheting projects 
• Restorative Justice Committee 
• Welding projects 
• Fundraisers to benefit community programs 
• Community disaster work groups 
• Occu Paws service dogs program 

Wisconsin Inmate Search 

Wisconsin Department of Corrections oversees more than 20,000 inmates scattered in its correctional facilities and community supervision programs. For this, the department of corrections maintains an elaborate offender database, providing up-to-date details on the whereabouts of each offender currently held in Wisconsin. More so, it has an inmate lookup portal allowing the public to search for friends and loved ones suspected to be in a Wisconsin correctional facility.  

The Steps 

Do you need to find an inmate in Wisconsin? If so, use the wi doc inmate locator to pinpoint the whereabouts of offenders incarcerated in a Wisconsin DOC facility.  

 1. Go to the official WDOC website 

2. Navigate to Offender Information <Adult Institutions<General Information page at https://doc.wi.gov/Pages/OffenderInformation/AdultInstitutions/GeneralInformation.aspx 

3. Click on Locating an Inmate to be redirected to the Wisconsin inmate search at https://appsdoc.wi.gov/lop 

4. Use the search query form to  locate an offender using their first and last names 

5. Narrow your search by including the offender’s aliases, phonetic, age, race, gender, year of birth, DOC number, and physical address of the offender in the search query. You can limit your search to display registered sex offenders only or inmates in active community supervision or incarceration 

6. The search query shall generate the following results: – 

• Inmate full names 
• Birth year 
• County 
• Race 
• Ethnicity 
• Weight 
• Height 
• Eye color 
• Hair color 
• Zip code 
• Custody status 
• Dexterity 

7. Click on the link provided on the offender’s name to generate the following additional information: – 

• Mugshot 
• Aliases 
• Current location 
• Status 
• All movements within WDOC 
• All court cases 
• Additional photos 

8. Click on Offender Information 

Contacting City and County Jails 

If you cannot find the inmate using the above wi offender lookup, and you are certain that the individual is in a Wisconsin correctional facility, they could be in a city or county jail. See, most Wisconsin city and county jails maintain independent inmate rosters on their official websites. Then, if you know where the person was arrested, check with a nearby city or county jail.  

Wisconsin Statewide VINE System 

Finally, are you a victim of crime that took place in the state of Wisconsin?  If so, you have a right to know the offender’s custody status. Apart from the wi doc inmate locator, the state of Wisconsin facilities participates in Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE). Indeed, Wisconsin Statewide VINE System is a state-approved victim notification service where victims of crime, their families, and concerned citizens can sign up to get real-time notifications on the offender information and changes in the custody status of their perpetrators.  

Next, search for an inmate via VINELink as follows: – 

• Go to vinelink.com 
• Click on the state of Wisconsin 
• Select Search and Register on the navigation page 
• Select the WDOC facility  
• Provide the offender’s names and identification number  
• Click search 
• Verify the search results to ensure it matches the offender for whom you search 
• Register for phone or email notifications to receive updates on the offender’s custody status 

Register for this free, secure, and confidential service as follows: – 

1. Telephone Registration 

Register to receive telephone notifications of offender information via the Wisconsin VINELink toll-free phone number at 888-868-4631. 

2. Web Registration 

Go to www.vinelink.com to search and register to receive email notifications on the custody status and criminal case information of offenders in Wisconsin correctional facilities.