Reviewed and updated October 9, 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 October 9, 2026.
Charleston, West Virginia, in Kanawha County, has about 46,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A traffic ticket written in Charleston is a court case in the Magistrate Court; a city with a municipal court 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Charleston public records, Kanawha County traffic tickets, Charleston arrest records, Charleston warrants, Charleston inmate search, Charleston criminal records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in Charleston Goes
Tickets in Charleston 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.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courtswv.gov/appellate-courts/office-of-the-clerk, phone (304) 558-2601.
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 Charleston
The Kanawha County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Charleston (filed by the FBI as Charleston Police Department) write the traffic tickets in and around Charleston.
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 arrest records guide names each one); 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 Charleston DUI).
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from Charleston?
With the Magistrate Court; 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 Charleston?
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 Charleston 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.