La Crosse County WI Main Jail

You can support your loved ones at LaCrosse Co Jail on InmateAid, if you have any immediate questions contact the facility directly at 608-785-9630.

When someone you care about gets locked up, it's tough to figure out all the ins and outs of jail life. From sending mail to visiting, there are a lot of things to sort out. And getting info about the arrest? Not always easy. That's where this webpage comes in handy. It's here to help you get a handle on how things work here so that you can stay connected and support your loved one behind bars.

The LaCrosse Co Jail is a detention center located at 333 Vine St La Crosse, WI which is operated locally by the La Crosse County Sheriff's Office and holds inmates awaiting trial or sentencing or both. Most of the sentenced inmates are here for less than two years. La Crosse County accepts inmates from surrounding towns, La Crosse Police Department, and the US Marshal's Service.

New detainees arrive at the jail regularly, with some being released on bail, placed under pretrial services caseloads, supervised by probation agencies, or released on recognizance with a court appearance agreement. Those who are not released await their court appearances at the jail, receiving accommodations including bedding and meals. You can see all the arrest records for Wisconsin here.

The first jail in La Crosse County was established in 1858, evolving in location and size to accommodate the justice system's needs. In 1965, a new jail opened on the second floor of the current Administrative Center on 4th Street, designed to house male and female, adult and juvenile inmates. Initially, this linear jail featured 60 beds plus 10 receiving cells. As the inmate population grew, part of the first floor was remodeled into a 54-bed male Huber facility. Huber inmates were granted the privilege to leave the jail for work, counseling, school, or treatment, provided they submitted a verified and approved schedule. Juveniles were relocated to a new Juvenile Detention Facility in 1990. In 1992, due to increasing population, the former Montgomery Ward's Service Center was temporarily remodeled into a 110-bed male Huber facility, and the old first-floor Huber area was converted into a "Medium Security" area for male inmates in the still-overcrowded second-floor jail.

With the population continuing to grow, a new Law Enforcement building was constructed, housing inmates along with the Sheriff's Department, 911 Dispatch, Court System, and District Attorney offices. The initial plan for over 400 beds was scaled down to a facility with 172 beds in an 8-pod housing unit on the second floor and 23 receiving cells with a 7-bed medical area on the lower level. This new jail in the Law Enforcement Center opened in September 1997. Due to space constraints and the need for objective classification (a system of housing assignments based on current charges and past behavior), the female population remained in the old 4th Street jail, with the County Board limiting the maximum number of females to 39 after authorizing necessary repairs to comply with state mandates. The "Medium Security" area in the Administrative Center was closed, but the "temporary" Male Huber Facility remained operational, totaling a bed capacity of 321. On January 1, 2006, the Male Huber Facility was closed, reducing the bed capacity to 211.

In November 2008, construction began on a $29.5 million addition to the 1997 Law Enforcement Center. This expansion included a new kitchen, jail garage, booking area, master control, two 57-bed direct supervision blocks, increased program space, and remodeling of three existing housing blocks along with the medical and receiving holding cell areas. On February 23, 2011, the old 1960s "Female Jail" was closed, and all inmates were consolidated into the Law Enforcement Center Jail, which now has a bed capacity of 244 plus 44 receiving/medical and close supervision cells.