West Virginia's Secretary of State searches its business records by an agent's, officer's or person's name as readily as by a company name, with a percent sign as a wildcard, and its voter check confirms a registration from a first name, last name and date of birth with data refreshed every night. The corrections division keeps two offender searches, one for the jails and one for the prisons, with a separate list of escapees and absconders, and the prison search covers only people still under its supervision. The state courts' site and the State Police criminal records page gave an automated reader nothing to work with, so a case is a matter for the court of record and a criminal history for the State Police on its own terms.
The order to use: the business search by officer name, the voter check to confirm the county, the jail and prison searches and the registry for status, the Board of Medicine for a physician, then the county offices for deeds, parcels and court records, listed on the West Virginia county pages at SearchSystems, with the Vital Registration Office for certificates.
- Companies, by officer or agent: the Secretary of State's Business Organization Search, by organization or by agent, officer and name, with a percent wildcard.
- Jails, prisons and absconders: the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Offender Search hub and its prison search.
- Registered offenders: the State Police Sex Offender Registry.
- Voters, from three facts: the Secretary of State's Am I Registered To Vote check, by first name, last name and date of birth.
- Physicians, certificates and money: the Board of Medicine licensee search, the Vital Registration Office and WV Unclaimed Property.
Written by SearchSystems.net from West Virginia's own systems: the West Virginia Judiciary, the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia Board of Medicine, the West Virginia Secretary of State, the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, the West Virginia State Treasurer, the West Virginia Legislature, each read on October 13, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The business search: an officer's name is enough
The Secretary of State's Business Organization Search, part of the office's Online Data Services, searches by organization or by agent, officer and name, takes one or more key words from a business name, and uses the percent symbol as a wildcard, so that %Fraternal%1234% finds Fraternal Order Eagles 1234 ABCD, Inc.; the results include fictitious business names when they have been registered with the State Tax Department, and the office makes no warranty as to correctness or completeness. The same menu offers a UCC online filing and search, an ordered business entity data list, a request for UCC and business entity bulk data, charitable organizations, notaries, trademarks and service of process. Searching by a person's name rather than a company's is the people search use: every entity that lists the person as agent or officer comes back together, and the page stamped itself Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 9:57 PM when it was read.
The offender searches: jails, prisons, and the absconders
The Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Offender Search page is a hub with four doors: Daily Incarcerations, Offender Search (Jails), Offender Search (Prisons), and Escapees and Absconders. The prison search starts from at least the first four numbers of the Offender ID or the first three letters of both the first and last name, and is set up only for offenders under active supervision, in prison or on parole status, with the division; those who have discharged or moved out of its custody will not appear, and the message No results found with specified criteria means the person is no longer in the division's custody. The division updates the information regularly and warns that it can change quickly, that it may not reflect a true current location, release date or status, that data conversion issues may leave the latest information unavailable, and that the sentencing details are not meant to describe the underlying criminal case, for which the court with jurisdiction holds the record; anyone who republishes the information carries the liability for it, including for defamation and invasion of privacy. The jail search sits on the same hub, so a person held in a jail rather than a prison is looked for there.
The West Virginia State Police registry
The West Virginia State Police Sex Offender Registry opens with a disclaimer to accept: Code 15-12, the Sex Offender Registration Act, authorizes the electronic release of information on certain offenders required to register, the information is as complete as registry personnel have verified and processed, an offender may have changed information without telling the State Police, and the State Police do not assess the specific risk of reoffense for anyone listed. Use of the information to threaten, intimidate or harass is investigated, and corrections go to the registry at (304) 746-2133 or registry@wvsp.gov. The State Police site itself, including its criminal records page, did not answer an automated read at all; the state's own description of the site says it carries missing persons and most wanted listings and sex offender registry information, so the terms for a West Virginia criminal history record are on the State Police's own criminal records page, which refused the read.
The courts: a welcome and nothing more
The West Virginia Judiciary site answered SearchSystems' automated read with its title alone, and its own description of itself is a welcome to information on how the court system functions in a unified court system under the Supreme Court of Appeals. No statewide name search was offered to the reader, so West Virginia case records are a matter for the court where the case was filed; the West Virginia county pages at SearchSystems list the court offices for each county.
The Board of Medicine and the other licensing boards
The West Virginia Board of Medicine is the sole authority for licenses to practice medicine and surgery, to practice podiatry and to practice as a physician assistant collaborating with MDs and DPMs, and its Licensee Search covers medical corporations and PLLCs, allopathic physicians, podiatric physicians and those physician assistants, with osteopathic physicians and their assistants referred to the Board of Osteopathic Medicine. The board publishes rosters and recent board actions, took its 2026 renewals until 4:30 pm on June 30, 2026, posts news on the Universal Professional and Occupational Licensing Act of 2025 and a criminal history record check requirement, and sits at 101 Dee Drive, Suite 103, Charleston, (304) 558-2921. The Secretary of State's Online Data Services carry a Licensing section alongside the business search.
Am I Registered To Vote: three facts, refreshed nightly
The Secretary of State's Am I Registered To Vote page takes a first name, last name and date of birth and returns the registration status, party, political districts and polling place. The information reflects the most recent entry on the record by the county and is updated nightly, so an entry made today appears tomorrow, and questions go to the County Clerk. The page is written for the voter, but it asks for nothing a third party cannot supply.
Vital Registration: the state's repository
The Vital Registration Office, a branch of the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, is the state's official repository of birth, death, marriage and divorce records, collects certificates of births, marriages, deaths, fetal deaths and stillbirths, and issues certified copies for a fee; its page says it issues certified copies of birth, death, fetal death and marriage certificates, which are prima facie evidence of the event. The office processes about 20,000 births, 25,000 deaths, 13,000 marriages, 9,000 divorces and 5,000 paternity affidavits a year across six units, its imaging unit keeps more than 9.5 million certificate images, and the page links the certificate request forms, the correction and amendment process, a genealogy page and WV DAVE.
Unclaimed property and the Treasurer
The State Treasurer's WV Unclaimed Property site answered an automated read with its title only, so its search runs on the site; the Treasurer's own page describes the office as the state's bank and counts finding unclaimed money you did not know about among the ways it serves West Virginians.
The Address Confidentiality Program under Code 48-28A
The Secretary of State's Address Confidentiality Program, governed by Code 48-28A, passed in 2007, and rule 153CSR37, effective May 6, 2009 and amended May 2, 2013, gives victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking a substitute post office box address from the Secretary of State to use with state and local agencies, for a driver's license or ID card, child support, school enrollment and voter registration, with first class mail forwarded at no charge within 5 business days and no packages, magazines or third class mail. Applicants must have relocated within 30 days or plan to move to an address unknown to the perpetrator, must not have created government records at the new address, must be West Virginia residents or about to be, must be at least 18 or a parent or guardian acting for a minor or incapacitated person, and apply in person through an approved application assistant at a local domestic violence, sexual assault or victim service program; enrollment runs four years, all state and local agencies and the courts must accept the address, with exemptions, and the office answers at (866) 767-8683 and acp@wvsos.gov. An application assistant's own participation is not confidential, and the ACP manager can confirm or deny it when asked.
The Freedom of Information Act
West Virginia's public records law is Chapter 29B of the Code, Article 1, Public Records, whose seven sections run from the declaration of policy and definitions through inspection and copying of public records and a registry of Freedom of Information Act requests, reports to the Secretary of State by public bodies, exemptions, enforcement, penalties for violation, and attorney fees and costs. The Attorney General's FOIA page answered with Page not found when read, so the statute itself is the reference for a request to any of the county offices listed on the West Virginia county pages at SearchSystems.
West Virginia: officer search, jail and prison search
West Virginia's business search answers from an officer's name, its voter check confirms a registration and a district from three facts, and its jail and prison searches with the absconder list settle where someone is held. The registry is a State Police matter, a physician is checked with the Board of Medicine, and the Vital Registration Office holds the certificates. Court records, deeds and parcels belong to the county, listed on the West Virginia county pages at SearchSystems.
Paid people search reports on West Virginians draw on the same records; the business search by officer name and the county records are where their claims get checked.
County Starting Points
Questions about finding someone in West Virginia
Every West Virginia Guide
The full set: arrest records, background checks, inmate search, offender registry, birth certificates, unclaimed property, business search, and the West Virginia records law that opens every door on this list.