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. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Dunbar, West Virginia, in Kanawha County, has about 7,100 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person held after an arrest in Dunbar is at the regional jail that serves Kanawha County, and the state's inmate search covers every regional jail. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Dunbar public records, Kanawha County inmate search, Dunbar arrest records, Dunbar warrants, Dunbar criminal records, Dunbar court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Dunbar
West Virginia closed its county jails in favor of regional jails run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, so a person held after an arrest in Dunbar is at the regional jail that serves Kanawha County, and the state's inmate search covers all of them.
That search is at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
Kanawha County in the Regional Jail: The Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the regional jail held about 430 people from Kanawha County, down from about 500 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Kanawha County has about 174,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so about 25 of every 10,000 of them are in the regional jail on an average day.
Who Books People
The Kanawha County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Dunbar (filed by the FBI as Dunbar Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Dunbar.
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 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 largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Charleston's 2,431 for 2023, Chesapeake's 1,152 for 2025 and East Bank's 1,152 for 2025.
Together, the nine agencies in Kanawha County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,371 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the regional jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Dunbar arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists its inmates at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Dunbar?
Through the state's inmate search at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx, which covers every regional jail; the page of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified is at kanawhasheriff.us.
How many people from Kanawha County are in the regional jail?
About 430 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Kanawha County go?
To a facility of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation; its inmate locator is at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
Is this the official Dunbar 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.