Reviewed and updated October 7, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Kanawha County, West Virginia, has about 174,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A traffic ticket written in Kanawha County is a court case in the Magistrate Court; a city with municipal courts tries its own, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Kanawha County public records, Kanawha County warrants, Kanawha County inmate search, Kanawha County criminal records, Kanawha County court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in Kanawha County Goes
Tickets in Kanawha County are split by who wrote them: the Magistrate Court for deputies and troopers, the municipal courts for city officers in the cities that run one. A paid ticket, a dismissal and a trial all end up in that court's records.
For Kanawha County, SearchSystems opened and checked the Magistrate Court page at kanawhacounty.westvirginiacourt.us/court-records.html (page title: Kanawha County Court Records | Case Lookup), phone 304-357-0440, 111 Court Street Charleston, WV 25301, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026; that page belongs to the court that takes the tickets.
West Virginia has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Writes the Tickets in Kanawha County
The Kanawha County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Charleston, South Charleston, St. Albans, Dunbar, Nitro, Marmet and eight more cities write the traffic tickets in Kanawha County.
The FBI's agency list also places two campus police departments, four state agencies, two other agencies and four state police units in Kanawha County; the state police write the tickets on the state highways.
The Montgomery Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Kanawha County, so its arrests are not broken out for Kanawha County here.
The Driving Record and the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles
Convictions are reported by the court to the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, which keeps the driving record and decides on points and suspensions. Order the driving record from that agency, not from the court.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DUI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before the Division of Motor Vehicles (see Kanawha County DUI).
Cities in Kanawha County
A ticket written inside a city goes to the Magistrate Court, or to the city's municipal court where it has one.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Kanawha County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population:
- Charleston (46,482)
- St. Albans (10,301)
- Dunbar (7,111)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from Kanawha County?
With the Magistrate Court, whose page SearchSystems verified is at kanawhacounty.westvirginiacourt.us, phone 304-357-0440; a ticket from city police goes to the city's municipal court where it has one.
Who keeps my driving record in West Virginia?
The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in Kanawha County?
The Magistrate Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $10,000. A city with a municipal court of its own tries the tickets under its ordinances.
Is this the official Kanawha County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.