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). Every warrant for Charleston comes from a judge of the Kanawha County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Charleston public records, Kanawha County warrants, Charleston arrest records, Charleston inmate search, Charleston criminal records, Charleston court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Charleston
In West Virginia an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Charleston that means the Kanawha County Circuit Court, which hears felonies, the larger civil cases and juvenile matters; the Magistrate Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $10,000, issues its own warrants on the cases before it. A city with a municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
A bench warrant follows a missed court date in any of those courts. Whichever kind it is, the warrant is part of the file of the case it was issued in, and the Circuit Clerk keeps that file.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courtswv.gov/appellate-courts/office-of-the-clerk (page title: Office of the Clerk | West Virginia Judiciary), phone (304) 558-2601, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. East Charleston WV 25305, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
West Virginia has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Serves Warrants in Charleston
The Kanawha County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Charleston (filed by the FBI as Charleston Police Department) serve warrants 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); each serves warrants on its own ground.
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 agency that serves a warrant from Kanawha County is whichever one finds the person; a West Virginia warrant is valid across West Virginia.
Together, the nine agencies in Kanawha County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,371 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Charleston arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Charleston Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody goes to the regional jail that serves Kanawha County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the state's inmate search is at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
A person arrested in Charleston on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Charleston
Whether a warrant is out from Charleston shows in two places:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Clerk at (304) 558-2601, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
- The Prosecuting Attorney, phone (304) 357-0300, which can say whether charges were filed; a warrant on a complaint follows the filing.
Not one of the Kanawha County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's and the prosecutor's) is a list of open warrants, so a check means asking the court or the prosecutor about a case by name.
The statewide criminal history kept by the West Virginia State Police is not open to the public in West Virginia, so it is not a route to a warrant check on someone else.
Clearing a Warrant from Charleston
A warrant is recalled by the court that issued it, so clearing one from Charleston starts with the Circuit Clerk at (304) 558-2601: the case goes back on the calendar and the judge recalls the warrant when the person appears.
A missed date in a case before the Magistrate Court is handled by that court, not by the Kanawha County Circuit Court.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The Prosecuting Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at kanawha.us/prosecuting-attorney, phone (304) 357-0300.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Charleston?
Not from the Kanawha County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Circuit Clerk at (304) 558-2601.
Who serves warrants in Charleston?
The agency that reports for Charleston inside the city and the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office outside it, or whichever agency finds the person; a West Virginia warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Charleston held?
In the regional jail that serves Kanawha County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
How is a warrant from Charleston cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Circuit Clerk at (304) 558-2601.
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.