Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 September 26, 2026.
Morgantown, West Virginia, in Monongalia County, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the regional jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Monongalia County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Morgantown public records, Monongalia County arrest records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Morgantown
The FBI lists Morgantown with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Morgantown Police Department. It reported 883 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Monongalia County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 386 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Monongalia County: the State Police's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and the Morgantown State Police (state police); Mon Valley Drug Task Force and Mon Metro Drug Task Force (other); the State Fire Marshal in Monongalia County, the Department of Natural Resources in Monongalia County and the Morgantown Municipal Fire Marshal (state agency); West Virginia University at Morgantown (campus police).
How Many Arrests Morgantown Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Morgantown: 883 for 2025, 870 for 2024, 718 for 2023, 713 for 2022, 702 for 2021 and 546 for 2020.
Morgantown's 883 arrests in 2025 were up 1.5 percent from 870 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Morgantown reported 576 arrests, against 585 in the same months of 2025.
Across Monongalia County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,445 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Morgantown Are Held
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 Morgantown goes to the regional jail that serves Monongalia County, and the state's inmate search covers all of them.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 270 people, up from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 195 beds, and it ran at 142 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists its inmates at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Morgantown
An arrest in Morgantown can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Monongalia County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at monongaliacountyclerk.com/index.php/how-to/58-electronic-records-se..., phone (304) 291-7230); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at monongaliacounty.gov/government/prosecuting_attorney/index.php, phone (304) 291-7250).
West Virginia does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the West Virginia State Police goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Morgantown
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
- An arrest by the Morgantown police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at morgantownwv.gov/700/FOIA-Request (page title: FOIA Request | Morgantown, WV), 430 Spruce Street, Morgantown, WV 26505, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Monongalia County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (304) 291-7250, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Monongalia County Circuit Court, through the court records page at monongaliacountyclerk.com, phone (304) 291-7230.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
The Monongalia County guide covers every agency in the county: Monongalia County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Morgantown each year?
Morgantown reported 883 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Morgantown booked?
In the regional jail that serves Monongalia County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Are arrest records public in Morgantown?
The court files of criminal cases in the Monongalia 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.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Morgantown?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Morgantown police for its own arrests, the Monongalia County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Morgantown 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.