Lincoln Hills School Youth Custody

Lincoln Hills School Overview

Lincoln Hills School is operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Division of Juvenile Corrections. It is a Type 1 secure juvenile correctional facility on the Irma campus shared with Copper Lake School. DOC describes Lincoln Hills as the male-youth facility on that campus and as a secure detention resource for male youth from nearby counties. It is physically in Lincoln County, but it is not run by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office.

The facility opened in summer 1970. From 1972 through 1994, the campus housed both male and female youth. Lincoln Hills now serves male youth, while Copper Lake School is the separate female-youth facility on the same campus. The two schools are co-located but should not be merged into one public roster concept. Lincoln Hills custody questions are juvenile DOC questions, not county jail booking questions.

The official DOC Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake page is the source for visitor bus schedules, visiting rules, sending money and mail, youth handbooks, transportation request information, and monitor reports.

The DOC page is also the safest public starting point because youth names are not published in a county-style adult roster.

Lincoln Hills Youth Population

The DOC juvenile population report gives a CY 2022 average daily population of 57.4 for Lincoln Hills School. The same report gives a 2018-2022 average of 85.6. Those figures are average population measures for the juvenile facility, not a live roster count and not adult jail capacity. No current official bed capacity for Lincoln Hills was located on the DOC facility page reviewed here, so the population figures should be labeled as DOC report measures.

That distinction is important in Lincoln County because the adult Lincoln County Jail has separate county figures, including county bed capacity and public roster counts. Lincoln Hills School is state-operated juvenile custody. Its population is tracked through DOC juvenile reporting and monitor reports, not through the sheriff's current-inmates portal.

Lincoln Hills Custody Lookup

Lincoln Hills School is not searched through the Lincoln County current-inmates roster. That roster is for current adult county jail custody in Merrill. Lincoln Hills youth are in DOC juvenile custody, and public access to youth names is not handled like an adult booking list. Do not expect a mugshot column, charge column, bond amount, or adult jail booking profile for a youth placed at Lincoln Hills.

1. Start with the DOC Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake facility page for official family, visiting, mail, and transportation resources.
2. Use DOC juvenile corrections contacts when the question is about a youth in DOC custody.
3. Use the DOC public-record process for records that may be releasable, subject to juvenile privacy limits and redaction.
4. Use the adult DOC locator only for adult convicted offenders, not as a public youth roster.
5. Use the Lincoln County Jail roster only when the person is an adult held at the county jail.

Lincoln Hills School Contact

The facility address is the Irma campus address listed in DOC facility-location sources. DOC's main published contact for the department is the Madison address and 608-240-5000. For family visiting, mail, money, transportation, and youth handbook questions, the DOC Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake page is the official starting point. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office does not operate Lincoln Hills School.

Lincoln Hills Visiting Rules

DOC posts Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake visiting resources on the shared juvenile facility page. The page includes a visitor bus schedule, visiting rules, transportation request information, and family-facing resources. Because Lincoln Hills is a secure juvenile correctional facility, visits are handled through DOC juvenile procedures rather than the Lincoln County Jail HOMEWAV video-visit system.

Visitors should treat DOC's current posted rules as controlling. Approval, transportation, schedule, identification, supervision, and conduct rules can differ from adult jail rules. The public roster search used for the Lincoln County Jail will not approve a Lincoln Hills visit, and a county jail lobby visit station is not the route for a youth placed at Lincoln Hills.

Lincoln Hills Mail Money

DOC's Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake page posts sending money and mail resources for youth at the campus. Use those DOC instructions instead of Lincoln County Jail mail rules. Adult jail mail allows letters, money orders, and simple cards at the Merrill jail address, but those rules are for adult county jail inmates. Lincoln Hills uses the DOC juvenile facility address and DOC procedures.

The same source distinction applies to money. JailATM, Stellar, and the Lincoln County Jail lobby kiosk are county jail deposit or bond channels. They are not the general path for Lincoln Hills youth. Families and approved contacts should use the DOC juvenile resources linked from the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake page and confirm any current account or mail rule before sending funds or mail.

Lincoln Hills Intake Context

Lincoln Hills intake is not street-arrest booking at the Lincoln County Jail. Youth are placed through juvenile justice and DOC juvenile custody processes. Public-facing adult jail terms such as bond, cash bond, Huber work release, and county jail booking fee do not describe the same process for a youth at Lincoln Hills. When a family member needs current instructions, the DOC juvenile resources and assigned case contacts are the appropriate route.

The adult Wisconsin DOC offender locator should also be used with care. It covers convicted adult offenders sentenced to DOC incarceration, community supervision, or both. It is not a county jail search and not a public list of youth at Lincoln Hills. For adult state custody after a Lincoln County criminal case, use the adult DOC locator. For Lincoln Hills, use DOC juvenile facility contacts and public-record channels.

DOC

Wisconsin Department of Corrections, the state agency operating Lincoln Hills School.

Type 1 secure facility

A secure juvenile correctional facility classification used by Wisconsin DOC.

County jail roster

The adult current-inmates list for Lincoln County Jail, not a Lincoln Hills youth list.

Public-record channel

A request route that may still involve juvenile privacy limits, review, and redaction.

About Lincoln Hills School

Lincoln Hills School has been part of Wisconsin's juvenile corrections system since 1970. Its role has changed over time. It once housed both male and female youth, but now serves male youth while Copper Lake School serves female youth on the same campus. The facilities remain closely linked in DOC public resources, monitor reports, visiting resources, and facility notices, but facility descriptions should keep their populations and operations separate.

DOC announced on April 18, 2025 that the 22nd monitor report for Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, covering October 2024 through February 2025, found an improved atmosphere and substantial compliance with 45 of 50 consent-decree provisions. That release is condition and oversight context, not a public youth roster. It is relevant because the school pages should explain facility governance without treating juvenile records like adult jail bookings.