Find the right regional jail record in West Virginia
Looking for WV regional jail mugshots, a recent booking, or someone currently in custody? The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WV DCR) is the official starting point. Choose its jail offender search for an individual, Daily Incarcerations for recent admissions, or its prison search after a state-prison transfer.
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Current custodian: WV Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, not a separate active “WVRJA” agency.
Coverage: Ten regional jails listed by WV DCR, with county service areas. Transfers can change the actual facility.
Important: A booking photo is not proof of guilt, and a jail entry may not reflect a later court result or current release status.
How to search a West Virginia regional jail inmate
The WV DCR offender-search hub links three different functions: Offender Search (Jails), Daily Incarcerations and Offender Search (Prisons). They are not interchangeable. If you know a person’s name and want to check regional jail custody, begin with the jail search, even if you originally searched online for “WV mugshots.”
- Open the state search hub.
Visit WV DCR Offender Search and select Offender Search (Jails). The state may send you to its apps.wv.gov Offender Information System (OIS).
- Enter the person’s legal name.
Use the last and first name fields provided by the official search. Complete any verification challenge that appears, then submit the search. If the site offers an offender identifier, use it only when you already have a verified number.
- Compare possible matches.
Review the name, reported facility and any additional identifying fields available through the result or “More Info” link. Similar names alone are not reliable identification.
- Read the booking information.
When displayed, note the admission or booking date, institution, offender identifier and related court information. A photograph may appear for some records; it is not guaranteed for every search.
- Confirm anything time-sensitive.
Use the listed facility’s official contact page if present custody or visiting plans matter. The state warns that online information can change quickly.
Why “WVRJA” still appears: The former West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority became part of the WV Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation in 2018. Some search interfaces and older articles still use RJA terminology. Always enter the current search through WV DCR.
If your question concerns admission during a particular day—not a specific person’s current custody—use the separate daily tool described below. For a complete criminal case, go to the Judiciary rather than treating a jail entry as the final charge or disposition.
Find today’s or recent WV regional jail bookings
The state’s Daily Incarcerations service organizes recent regional jail admission information. It is the better starting point for searches such as “WV regional jail mugshots today,” “recent arrests” or “who was booked yesterday.” It is not a permanent archive of every West Virginia arrest.
- Go to the WV DCR search hub and choose Daily Incarcerations.
- Use the available county or institution route. If selecting a facility, check its full name; Southern, South Central and Southwestern are different jails.
- Check the displayed report date and any names, admission details or counts supplied by that view. Do not assume a report is for today’s date unless it says so.
- For a particular person, move to Offender Search (Jails) to check the currently reported facility or further details.
- Use the court record for case filings, and contact the jail if a time-sensitive custody or release question remains unanswered.
Daily Incarcerations and a jail offender search can produce different results because one concerns admissions during a reporting period and the other concerns individuals in the system. A person may have been released, transferred or moved after the published admission date.
Some state search pages contain verification or session-expiration messages. Start again from the main DCR hub if a deep link fails; do not treat a session error as a “no records” finding.
All 10 West Virginia regional jails: cities, counties and contacts
Use this directory to identify the usual regional jail serving an arrest county, then confirm the person’s actual institution through the live state search. The counties below reflect the service areas listed on WV DCR facility pages, not a guarantee that every individual from that county will be held there. A facility can receive transfers or other placements.
| Regional jail | Counties served | Main contact |
|---|---|---|
| Central Regional Jail1255 Dyer Hill Road, Sutton, WV 26601 | Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Lewis, Nicholas, Roane, Webster | 304-765-7904 |
| Eastern Regional Jail94 Grapevine Road, Martinsburg, WV 25405 | Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan | 304-267-0045 |
| North Central Regional Jail1 Lois Lane, Greenwood, WV 26415 | Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Pleasants, Ritchie, Tyler, Wirt, Wood | 304-873-1384 |
| Northern Regional Jail112 Northern Regional Correction Drive, Moundsville, WV 26041 | Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, Tyler, Wetzel | 304-843-4067 |
| Potomac Highlands Regional Jail355 Dolan Drive, Augusta, WV 26704 | Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Pendleton | 304-496-1275 |
| South Central Regional Jail1001 Centre Way, Charleston, WV 25309 | Jackson, Kanawha | 304-558-1336 |
| Southern Regional Jail1200 Airport Road, Beaver, WV 25813 | Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, Wyoming | 304-256-6726 |
| Southwestern Regional Jail1300 Gaston Caperton Drive, Holden, WV 25625 | Boone, Logan, McDowell, Mingo | 304-239-3032 |
| Tygart Valley Regional Jail400 Abbey Road, Belington, WV 26250 | Barbour, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker, Upshur | 304-637-0382 |
| Western Regional JailOne O’Hanlon Place, Barboursville, WV 25504 | Cabell, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam, Wayne | 304-733-6821 |
County overlap: WV DCR currently lists Tyler County under both North Central and Northern Regional Jail facility descriptions. That is a reason to rely on the current inmate result rather than assuming a single exclusive jail assignment from a county name.
Visiting or mailing someone? Use the linked facility page for its current visitor rules and directions. Some facilities require an inmate-initiated visit request, advance scheduling or a separate visitation line. Do not assume the phone number above is the visitation booking number.
Are WV regional jail mugshots available to the public?
WV DCR’s offender information system can display a booking photo with an eligible result when one is available. However, not every record displays a photograph, and the public search is not guaranteed to function as an unrestricted historical mugshot gallery. The state keeps photographs as part of the booking process; creating a booking photo and publishing it publicly are different actions.
West Virginia Code §62-1-6a limits law-enforcement agencies’ sharing of booking photographs of people arrested for certain minor offenses on social media, subject to specified exceptions. It does not mean every jail booking photo is absent from the inmate search, and it should not be presented as a blanket ban on all public records.
Legislative-status caution: West Virginia House Bill 4621 (2024) proposed broader restrictions involving DCR booking photos, but the Legislature’s bill history shows it was referred to Senate Judiciary without becoming enacted law in that session. Do not confuse proposed bill language with current law.
If the image is absent: Use the displayed identifier and facility for custody verification. For a police or incident photograph, contact the agency that created it. Do not assume that a person with a matching name in an unrelated mugshot directory is the same individual.
Check WV charges, bond and court case outcomes separately
A regional jail entry is a custody record. The court may later file, amend, dismiss or resolve charges. Bond information and hearing schedules can also change. West Virginia provides statewide online routes for magistrate and circuit court records.
Magistrate case search
Use the West Virginia Judiciary Magistrate Record Search to find public case information by first name, last name or case number. The official guidance says the free system can return up to 30 results; case documents themselves are not provided through that search. Ask the magistrate clerk in the county where the case was filed for copies, which may involve a statutory fee.
Circuit court records
Use WV Judiciary Court Record Access to reach statewide circuit court and magistrate searches for all 55 counties. Public circuit case records may be searchable online, while downloading documents can require registration and a fee. A jail booking number is not necessarily the same as a court case number.
Example: Someone booked into Eastern Regional Jail after a Berkeley County arrest may have a magistrate case in Berkeley County. Search the court under the case county, not merely the jail’s physical address. If the person is transferred, the case court and custody facility may remain different.
Request older mugshots, arrest reports or booking details
Start with the office that holds the requested record. WV DCR operates the jail system, while police departments, sheriffs and State Police may hold arrest or incident reports. Courts hold their own case records. Sending a request to the wrong office can delay the answer.
- Identify the record: Write down the person’s name, approximate arrest or booking date, relevant county, known facility and any booking or case number.
- Select the custodian: Contact WV DCR for its jail records, the arresting agency for its incident report and the court clerk for case documents.
- Find that agency’s request instructions: Check its official website for public-records procedures, permitted request methods and applicable exemptions.
- Ask precisely: Specify whether you seek a booking photograph, intake record, release information, arrest report or certified court document. These are not the same request.
- Keep a copy: Record the response or tracking number. If the record is withheld, review the agency’s stated legal reason and any available review procedure.
West Virginia has its own Freedom of Information Act under Chapter 29B, which differs from federal FOIA. Records may be exempt, redacted or limited by other laws. The Judiciary’s access page is the better route for public court cases; do not expect DCR to supply a final judgment.
Why an inmate or mugshot search may show no result
- Wrong jail type. Check WV DCR’s separate jail and prison searches if a person has changed custody systems.
- Released or moved. An old admission may remain visible in a dated report even though the person is not presently at that facility.
- Not yet updated. Newly processed bookings and transfers can take time to appear in public search results.
- Search spelling. Confirm the legal first and last names, and use additional identifiers to avoid a false same-name match.
- Different arrest county. The county of residence, jail location and court of prosecution can be different.
- Photo not displayed. A missing photograph is not equivalent to no booking or a dismissed charge.
- Session or verification issue. Return to the DCR search hub and try the state’s normal workflow, rather than using an expired saved results link.
- Restricted record. Juvenile, sealed or otherwise protected records may not be publicly searchable.
For urgent questions about custody or personal safety, contact the facility or appropriate emergency service. An online public search cannot be treated as a live confirmation of a person’s whereabouts.
WV regional jail mugshots FAQ
Where is the official WV regional jail mugshot search?
Start at WV DCR Offender Search and select Offender Search (Jails). Photos appear only when provided with the official result.
Can I view today’s WV regional jail bookings?
Select Daily Incarcerations from the DCR search hub. Check the date displayed on the report and choose the available county or facility view. It is not a permanent statewide photo archive.
Does WVRJA still run the regional jails?
WVRJA is the former Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority. WV DCR now administers the state’s corrections system, including the regional jails.
How many regional jails are in West Virginia?
WV DCR lists ten regional jails. Its larger adult-facility directory also includes state correctional centers and other jail or prison facilities; those should not be mistaken for additional regional jails.
Is a West Virginia jail mugshot free to view?
The state offender-search tools are public services; no fee is advertised for an ordinary lookup. A photo is not guaranteed. Copies or special requests may be subject to separate rules or charges.
Why does my search show no photo?
Not every offender result includes an available image. A missing photo does not prove the person was never booked or that the underlying charge was dismissed.
What is the difference between Southern and Southwestern Regional Jail?
Southern Regional Jail is at 1200 Airport Road in Beaver, Raleigh County. Southwestern Regional Jail is at 1300 Gaston Caperton Drive in Holden, Logan County. South Central Regional Jail is a third facility in Charleston.
Can I find a person who was released last week?
A current inmate search may no longer show that person. Check any available dated admission information, the arresting agency’s records and the court case. Historical coverage is not guaranteed.
What if the person was transferred to state prison?
Go to the same DCR search hub and select Offender Search (Prisons). A regional jail result does not establish that the person remains at that jail after a transfer.
How do I check the charges or bond?
Use the Magistrate Record Search or Court Record Access, based on the case court. The court clerk can provide record copies or clarify an official court filing.
Does a regional jail mugshot prove guilt?
No. A booking image or custody listing describes an arrest or detention event, not a conviction. The relevant court controls criminal-case disposition.
Can I ask for a missing booking photograph?
You can ask the agency that holds the record about its public-record procedure. Disclosure depends on the applicable laws, exemptions and the specific record. Do not assume every photograph must be publicly released.
What to do next
For an individual inmate, open WV DCR Offender Search (Jails). For a recent intake, choose Daily Incarcerations instead. Use the ten-facility directory above to identify the jail and verify its address or contact details. When your question turns to formal charges, hearings or disposition, move to the West Virginia Judiciary’s Court Record Access service.
Every publicly displayed custody entry is subject to updates and correction. Do not publish someone else’s arrest information as proof of wrongdoing or use an independent mugshot guide for employment, housing, credit or other regulated screening.