Reviewed and updated October 11, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime 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 October 11, 2026.
Buckhannon, West Virginia, in Upshur County, has about 5,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In West Virginia the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the West Virginia State Police is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Buckhannon is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Buckhannon public records, Upshur County criminal records, Buckhannon arrest records, Buckhannon warrants, Buckhannon inmate search, Buckhannon court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Upshur County Circuit Court
In West Virginia the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Buckhannon are heard by the Upshur County Circuit Court, which hears felonies, the larger civil cases and juvenile matters; the Magistrate Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $10,000, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Clerk.
For Upshur County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at upshurcounty.org/departments/circuit_clerk/index.php (page title: Circuit Clerk), phone (304) 472-2370, 38 West Main Street, Buckhannon, WV 26201, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 11, 2026.
West Virginia has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The West Virginia Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the West Virginia State Police is closed to the public in West Virginia: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Buckhannon
The Upshur County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Buckhannon (filed by the FBI as Buckhannon Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Buckhannon: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places two state agencies, one other agency and one state police unit in Upshur County (the arrest records guide names each one); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the two agencies in Upshur County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 367 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Buckhannon arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Buckhannon in 2025
The agency that reports for Buckhannon had 7 violent and 43 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Upshur County
Charges in Upshur County are filed by the Prosecuting Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Upshur County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at upshurcounty.org/departments/prosecuting_attorney_s_office/index.php (page title: Prosecuting Attorney's Office), phone (304) 472-9699, 38 West Main Street, Room 202 Buckhannon, WV 26201, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Buckhannon
Registered sex offenders living in Buckhannon are listed on the West Virginia Sex Offender Registry, run by the West Virginia State Police at apps.wv.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Upshur County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Buckhannon?
The court files of criminal cases in the Upshur County Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the West Virginia State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
Can I search Buckhannon criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at upshurcounty.org (page title: Circuit Clerk).
How do I get my own West Virginia criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
Who prosecutes crimes in Buckhannon?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at (304) 472-9699, which files its cases in the Upshur County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court.
Is this the official Buckhannon website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.