How to Search Criminal Dockets
No single criminal docket database covers every Tucker County court. The official Court Record Access page splits the routes. Circuit matters go to WVPASS. Magistrate matters go to Magistrate Case Record Search. Felonies prosecuted in Circuit Court live in WVPASS. Misdemeanors and traffic cases usually show up in the magistrate search first. A felony's first magistrate steps appear there too. City ordinance cases can stay with the municipality instead.
Enter the exact case number when you have it. Name searches can pull up more than one person. The magistrate system also caps results at 30. A common surname may hide the right docket. Use a birth date to confirm a match rather than copying it into your notes. If a lookup stalls, try spelling variants and narrow the county. Then call the clerk for that court.
- Choose circuit or magistrate court from the official access page.
- Search by case number or the permitted name fields.
- Match Tucker County, filing date, charge, and status.
- Read the register entries or document list.
- Ask the proper clerk for a paper or certified copy.
Tucker Criminal Docket Search Paths
WVPASS opens the door to circuit records and public document images. You will need an account, a login, and a two-factor check. Browsing cases is free. Per the official FAQ, public documents run 25 cents per page. Any stated processing charge is added. Coverage reaches circuit cases filed from July 1, 1999 forward. Sealed and juvenile records are excluded. A paid download still is not a certified copy.
Magistrate Case Record Search costs nothing and requires no registration. It takes a first name, last name, or case number. A result may show the case number, filing date, charge, disposition, and documents. The documents themselves stay offline. Reading the underlying complaint or order often still takes a call or visit. The clerk holds those papers.
The official magistrate instructions lay out this lower-court route.
That page shows that online case information and clerk-held copies are two separate forms of access.
What a Criminal Docket Shows
Think of a Tucker County criminal docket as a register in time order. It often opens with a complaint, citation, or indictment. Entries that follow may name the judge or magistrate, counsel, notices, motions, scheduled events, pleas, orders, disposition, sentence, and appeal. Every label carries a narrow meaning. A charge is only an allegation. A count of filings is not a count of outcomes.
| Case number | The court identifier; circuit and magistrate formats differ. |
|---|---|
| Charge | The alleged offense shown by the filed record. |
| Setting | An arraignment, preliminary hearing, motion, plea, trial, or sentence event. |
| Disposition | The recorded result or status, which may be abbreviated. |
| Document list | Filings tied to events; magistrate images are not online. |
Notations can be shorter than the signed order behind them. When exact terms matter, request the order itself. The clerk can tell you whether a copy is ordinary or certified, and whether the record is electronic or paper.
Tucker Criminal Filings in 2024
The official 2024 annual statistical report offers local context without describing anyone's case. Tucker County Circuit Court logged 15 felony filings that year. The criminal table lists no magistrate appeals, two misdemeanors, and three other criminal matters. That makes 20 total circuit criminal filings. The Magistrate Court side reported 24 felony, 360 misdemeanor, 10 worthless-check, and three juvenile filings. Those figures follow the report's categories.
Filings are not convictions, open cases, or unique people. Magistrate felony entries often mark preliminary stages before a matter moves up to Circuit Court. Adding the two totals together would wrongly treat every filing as a finished prosecution.
Stages on a Criminal Docket
One Tucker County felony can leave records in two courts. The trip often starts with a complaint and preliminary proceeding before a magistrate. The case may then move forward. If so, the Circuit Court record may show indictment, arraignment, motions, plea or trial, disposition, sentencing, and appeal. A misdemeanor can stay in Magistrate Court, depending on the charge and posture. Search both levels when the facts span that transition.
Docket flow: Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
A continuance just means an event moved to a new date. A dismissal ends a charge in the manner the order states. Disposition is the broader outcome label. An indictment signals an accusation approved through the charging process. These terms are not interchangeable. The signed order and full register supply the best context.
Tucker Criminal Clerk Channels
Online tools cover only part of access. Sharon Moats, Tucker County Circuit Clerk, keeps circuit records. Her office sits at 211 First Street, Suite 403, Parsons, WV 26287. It lists 304-478-2606 and fax 304-478-4464. The email is sharon.moats@courtswv.gov. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Requests work by phone, email, fax, mail, or in person.
Brenda Arnold, Tucker County Magistrate Court Clerk, sits at 211 First Street, Suite 303, Parsons, WV 26287. She is reachable at 304-478-2665 with fax 304-478-4836. The official Tucker judiciary directory remains the main court-specific source. A county directory lists different magistrate phone numbers. Verify the line before trusting one listing.
The judiciary directory places the Tucker court offices in one official view.
Use it to route a hearing or copy question to the court that actually holds the case.
Which Court Holds Criminal Dockets
Tucker County Magistrate Court handles misdemeanors, traffic tickets, and the early stages of felony cases. Felony prosecutions and other serious criminal matters sit with the Tucker County Circuit Court. That court shares the 22nd Judicial Circuit with Preston County. Judges Hilary Bright and Steven L. Shaffer serve the circuit. Riley H. Barb and Brian K. Wilfong serve as Tucker's magistrates.
Knowing the court level tells you where to search. It also tells you how to order copies and whom to call about a hearing date. WVPASS cannot replace the magistrate database. The magistrate search, in turn, will not hand you Circuit Court documents. Municipal ordinance cases live with the city or town that issued them. Federal crimes fall outside these state systems. Those belong to the Northern District of West Virginia and PACER. A search that returns nothing does not prove the case is absent. Check those jurisdiction lines before giving up.
Tucker Criminal Dates Need Confirmation
A Tucker County criminal docket can list an arraignment, preliminary hearing, motion, plea, trial, or sentencing date. It may also show an event continued, held, or reset. No public daily trial-calendar page exists for the county. So confirm any live setting with the Circuit Clerk, the Magistrate Clerk, a court notice, or the assigned office before you travel.
When you call, have the case number ready. Have the court level, party name, event type, and date range ready too. Ask which courtroom applies. Ask whether the event is in person or remote. An older entry may have been replaced by a later order. The Tucker County court calendar process walks through settings, terms, and last-minute changes.
Remember, a setting is only a scheduled event. It does not prove a hearing occurred or that the case reached a final result.
Public Access and Sealed Criminal Dockets
Public access to a docket has legal limits. West Virginia Trial Court Rule 10.04 governs inspection and copies through the clerk during usual hours, and electronic-filing rules control private information and sealed material. Juvenile records stay confidential in most cases. Domestic-violence files follow their own rules. A missing image may be sealed, restricted, never scanned, unprocessed, or simply held in paper form by the clerk.
Key access rules:
West Virginia Trial Court Rules govern access, sealing, and private information.
West Virginia Code ยง49-5-103 limits access to juvenile records.
Domestic-violence rules protect records and define lawful access.
Privacy: Do not repeat birth dates, home addresses, victim data, medical facts, financial identifiers, or juvenile details. Ask about the lawful route for a restricted court record instead of running alternate searches to slip past it.
Validate Tucker Criminal Outcomes
The magistrate search carries a warning. It says results may be incomplete or inaccurate and directs users to the clerk. Heed it when a status appears only as an abbreviation. A charge, plea, dismissal, guilt finding, and sentence mark different points in a case. Later orders or an appeal can change the context again.
For a certified disposition or sentencing order, request that exact item from the right clerk. Say whether you need an ordinary copy, a certified copy, the full register, or a selected order. Provide the case number, filing year, and delivery choice. Confirm page, certification, postage, and payment terms up front. WVPASS copies are convenient but never certified.
The local Circuit Clerk page lays out the Tucker County office route. It covers phone, mail, email, fax, and counter access whenever an online record is not enough.
Its details support phone, mail, email, fax, and counter contact when the online docket leaves questions open.