Request Tips

Please remember: Public record requests made through this portal are themselves public records.


  • We suggest that you do not include confidential information such as birth dates, Social Security numbers, account numbers, or other personal or private information.
  • If you don't know the name of the record you are looking for, describe the information you believe is contained in it as specifically as possible.
  • Once you submit your request, you will receive email notifications regarding the status of your request. If you are not receiving the email notifications, check your spam/junk folder.

How long will it take to get a response?


Staff will review your request as soon as practicable and without delay. The more specific and limited your request is, the faster staff will be able to locate the records you seek. Specific dates and topics will help narrow the search for the records you seek.


Broad requests, requests with large date ranges, requests from multiple departments, multipart requests, and requests involving audio or video may all require significant time for staff to locate and, if appropriate, redact the records.


Each request made is reviewed to ensure that records released are provided in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations.


Tips on submitting focused requests


  • Search prior requests on the portal or the documents page for previously published records.
  • Be as specific as possible with the types of records that you are requesting.
  • Provide a Case Number if known. Only Marathon County Sheriff's Office case numbers can be used to look up Marathon County Sheriff's Office records. We cannot look up records using case numbers assigned by the courts, or those assigned by other agencies outside of Marathon County. Marathon County case numbers are in the format YY.XXXX where YY is the two-digit year in which the incident occurred, and XXXX is a chronological number assigned to each case report throughout the year. If the case number you have is not in this format, it is likely from another source.
  • If you are unsure of the exact date of an incident for which you are requesting records, provide a date range as narrow as possible for the records you are seeking. Searching unreasonably large date ranges may cause your request to be denied for being overly broad.

Anonymous Requests:

Wisconsin law does not require you to provide your name or contact information along with a request for public records. If you submit a request without providing a valid email address, the portal will not be able to send you updates for your request and you will not be able to log in to access documents. It will be your responsibility to check the portal for records that are posted publicly on the portal in response to your request. If the County needs clarification on your request in order to respond to your request and you provide no way to contact you, your request may be closed without a response.


Who can I contact if I have questions or issues?


Feel free to correspond with staff through this portal. If you have department-specific questions, please reach out to that specific department.