Records Division

The Records Division is the administrative arm of the Sheriff's Office.

Staff

The Records Division consists of five full-time civilian employees. Included in this count are three Law Enforcement Records Specialists, one Lead Law Enforcement Records Specialist, and the Administrative Services Manager. These employees play a vital role in the financial, human resources, personnel, and records management functions of the Sheriff's Office.

Open Records

The Portage County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement, jail, juvenile detention, emergency management, emergency medical services, dispatching, emergency management, emergency medical services, animal control, and investigative services to the County, and under certain circumstances, to the State and local units of government. We maintain business records to accomplish our duties, and these records are maintained as specified by law.

This agency has designated Chief Deputy Benjamin Beaudoin as the Custodian of Public Records. Captain of Operations and Communications Joshua Ostrowski, Captain of Corrections Ronnie Leach, Administrative Services Manager Katarzyna Norgaard, and Emergency Management Coordinator Robert Weinert have been designated Assistant Custodians for their respective divisions. They are assisted by the staff of the Records Division in evaluating and completing open record requests.

The Sheriff's Office also acts as the custodian for public records maintained by any contractors (such as the Humane Society of Portage County and ambulance service providers) for records dealing with their duties as agents of the County. Such records are available to the public for inspection, and copies may also be obtained as outlined.

Costs

This agency will charge requestors $0.30 per page for each copy or printout made. Records that involve manual redaction of information require two copies to be made for each page requested; therefore the charge will be $0.60 per page in those cases to cover the additional materials involved.

There will be additional charges for certain records, such as specialized documents, photographs, and audio files, or for retrieving records and files from the agency archives, as well as certain services, such as mailing records. The exact costs for these services vary and can be obtained from the Records Division staff.

Fees for Records:

Accident/Incident Reports and Background Check Copies - $0.30/page

  • Photos on CD - $10/CD
  • Audio/Video Recordings - $10/CD or DVD
  • Shipping and Handling - varies depending on actual costs

Special Circumstances:

  • Requests that exceed $5 will require prepayment.
  • Complex or extensive requests requiring $50 or more of staff research time will also be billed.

How to Make a Request

Requests for records may be made in person, by mail, or by other reasonable methods to:

Portage County Sheriff’s Office
Attention: Records Division
1500 Strongs Avenue
Stevens Point, WI 54481-3542
Phone: 715-346-1400  

To submit a request via email, send your request via Email. Please include:

  • Case number (if known)
  • Date and location of the incident
  • Name of the individual involved with date of birth
  • Your contact information including your daytime phone number

All requests made will be evaluated against established legal standards contained in section 19.35 of the Wisconsin state statutes, as well as other applicable laws, and may require extensive review or attention in preparation. Every effort will be made to return a response to any requestor as soon as reasonably practical.

Crash Reports

All Portage County Sheriff’s Office traffic crash reports are now available free at Crash Docs.  Anyone can obtain a copy of a crash report from July 20, 2017, to the present at no charge. Reports can be accessed by date of accident and our agency case number (i.e. report number).

Online Crash Data

To view online crash data view Community Maps UW-Madison TOPS Lab.