The Dane County Sheriff's Office operates three jail facilities:
The City-County Building Jail, located at 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison, Wisconsin, houses maximum security prisoners who are awaiting trial or who do not have work release privileges on their sentences.
The Public Safety Building Jail, located at 115 West Doty Street, Madison, Wisconsin houses medium security prisoners and prisoners sentenced to jail with work release. It also contains our Booking facility for processing new prisoners into the jail, and is the centralized location for releases from the jail facilities. All property, financial, and administrative offices are located at this facility.
The William H. Ferris Center, located at 2120 Rimrock Road, Madison, Wisconsin, near the Coliseum and Exposition Center, houses minimum security prisoners who are sentenced with work release privileges, and houses the administrative office for electronic release programs.
Visitation at the Dane County Jail is scheduled by the inmate. Each Sunday the inmates have the opportunity to sign up for two (2) forty-five minute visitation slots for the week. Only scheduled visits will be honored. No walk-up visits are permitted.
It is the responsibility of the inmate to notify their family and friends of the dates and times of their visitation slots by telephone or U.S. Mail. The Dane County Jail Staff will not relay messages to the inmates. Visitors must be sure to be on time for their scheduled visits. If you are more than 10 minutes late, regardless of the reason, you could be denied the visit.
Visitors must have a valid ID, Driver’s License, Passport, or Military ID to enter visitation.
Consumption of alcohol prior to a scheduled visit is not permitted.
In both the City County Building and the Public Safety Building non Huber visitation there may be up to (3) visitors permitted during each scheduled visitation time; (1) visitor at a time in the booth.
Huber inmates may have up to (3) visitors at one time.
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Monday-Friday 9:00am – 9:45pm 10:00am – 10:45am 1:00pm – 1:45pm 6:00pm – 6:45pm 7:00pm – 7:45pm 8:00pm – 8:45pm 9:00pm – 9:45pm
Saturday/Sunday/Holidays 10:00am - 10:45am 1:00pm – 1:45pm 6:00pm – 6:45pm 7:00pm – 7:45pm 8:00pm – 8:45pm 9:00pm – 9:45pm
Monday-Friday 8:00am – 8:45am 9:00am – 9:45am 10:00am – 10:45am 5:30 pm – 6:15pm 6:30pm – 7:15pm 7:30pm – 8:15pm 8:30pm – 9:15pm 9:30pm – 10:15pm
Saturday/Sunday/Holidays 8:00am – 8:45am 9:00am – 9:45am 10:00am – 10:45am 12:45pm – 1:30pm 1:45pm – 2:30pm 2:45pm – 3:30pm 5:30 pm – 6:15pm 6:30pm – 7:15pm 7:30pm – 8:15pm 8:30pm – 9:15pm 9:30pm – 10:15pm
Monday-Friday 5:30pm – 6:15pm 6:30pm – 7:15pm 7:30pm – 8:15pm 8:30pm – 9:15pm 9:30pm – 10:15pm
Saturdays/Sundays/Holidays 9:30am – 10:15am 10:30am – 11:15am 12:45pm - 1:30pm 1:45pm - 2:30pm 2:45pm - 3:30pm 5:30pm - 6:15pm 6:30pm – 7:15pm 7:30pm – 8:15pm 8:30pm – 9:15pm 9:30pm – 10:15pm
No personal property is allowed into visitation. Prior to entering visitation, all personal property must be locked up. Lockers are available outside of visitation. This includes but is not limited to: coats, hats, cell phones, keys, and any other personal items.
The Sheriff’s Office has the authority to terminate visits, to deny visitation privileges and to deny visitors at any time. For safety and security reasons the following list documents some of the rules that apply to the visitation areas. Violation of any of these rules may result in a denial of the visit, as well as denial of future visitation privileges:
The public may not drop off any property at the property window.
Huber Inmates can have property dropped off at their scheduled visit. Visitors need to check with the inmate to determine what they already have and what additional items can be brought in through visitation.
Hygiene items must be purchased through the vending machines. These items cannot be brought in at a scheduled visit.
Non Huber Inmates cannot have property dropped off at a scheduled visit. The inmate must purchase items from the commissary service provided at the jail.
Cash, money orders, and cashiers checks can be placed on an inmate’s account 24 hours per day, 7 days per week at the Bail & Release Window inside the Public Safety Building located at 115 West Doty St. Money orders, or cashier’s checks may be sent to an inmate via U.S. Mail. No personal checks will be accepted.
Any mail, letters, or correspondence must be sent to the inmate via the U.S. Mail. We do not allow any mail to be dropped off for an inmate. No boxes are allowed. No packages larger than 10” x 13” are allowed. No hard-covered books allowed.
Inmates may have only the following items mailed in:
Address mail to the inmate at:
Dane County Jail 115 West Doty Street Madison, WI 53703
If you know the inmate’s location or booking number please include that after the inmate’s name.
For inmates at the William H. Ferris Center direct their mail to:
Ferris Center 2120 Rimrock Road Madison, WI 53713
To find out if someone is in jail, you can call (608) 284-6100. Our voice tree will route your inquiry to the proper location.
You can bail a prisoner out of jail by appearing in person at the Bail/Release window in the Public Safety Building, 115 W. Doty St., Madison, ground floor. The jail accepts cash, money orders or cashier’s checks for all bail. Out-of-county money orders and cashier’s checks will be verified for authenticity. Any prisoner going through the Dane County Court system can be bailed out by using a Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card, Diner's Club or American Express credit card, if credit is approved. If a credit card is used for bail, the person whose name is imprinted on the card must appear in person to sign the charge slip. A transaction fee is automatically added to the cash advance amount.
You may also pay bail at another county in Wisconsin. Just go to the local County Sheriff’s Office and let them know you would like to bail someone out in Dane County. Make sure you pay the bail in cash. The Dane County Jail will only accept charge cards on bail paid in person at our jail. The Courts (not the Sheriff's Office) process any returns of bail money. Typically, the courts will return bail after the subject has completed all court directives, and has appeared for all court hearings. It is up to the Courts whether or not they return all of the bail, or a portion of the bail. Bail returns are processed by the Courts within approximately 21 days of the last mandatory court hearing the subject appears for.
A. You should report to the Bail/Release window of the Public Safety Building, ground floor by 7:00 a.m. on the day the judge ordered you to start serving your sentence. If you have set up your work release ahead of time, you will be processed through fairly quickly. If you have not set up your work release, you will get the opportunity to talk to a Huber counselor once you are assigned to a housing unit.
A. Upon sentencing by the court you should have received a brochure "Huber Law and You" or the Spanish version "La Ley Huber & Usted". This form has a registration blank you must fill out and mail in. Our Huber counselors will contact you some time before your scheduled booking date to make work release arrangements. If you did not receive the "Huber Law and You" brochure, you can download one from the links above or go to the Bail/Release window of the Public Safety Building, ground floor and ask for one. Please allow at least ten (10) working days for the Huber counselor to process your work release.
If you do not show up on your report date, a warrant may be issued the same day, for a Failure to Appear. If you are late reporting for your sentence, you will be released late on the last day of your sentence. You must report to the jail by 7:00 am.