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 30, 2026.
Wheeling, West Virginia, in Ohio County, has about 26,000 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 Ohio 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: Wheeling public records, Ohio County arrest records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Wheeling
The FBI lists Wheeling with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Wheeling Police Department. It reported 797 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 Ohio County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 276 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Ohio County: the Wheeling State Police (state police); Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force (other); the State Fire Marshal in Ohio County and the Department of Natural Resources in Ohio County (state agency); West Liberty University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Wheeling 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.
- Wheeling: 797 for 2025, 890 for 2024, 925 for 2022 and 779 for 2020; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Wheeling's 797 arrests in 2025 were down 10 percent from 890 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Wheeling reported 516 arrests, against 395 in the same months of 2025.
Across Ohio County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,225 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wheeling 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 Wheeling goes to the regional jail that serves Ohio County, and the state's inmate search covers all of them.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 100 people, up from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 89 beds, and it ran at 112 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Ohio County Sheriff's Office at ohiocountywv.gov/government/ohio-county-sheriffs-office/23 (page title: Ohio County Sheriff's Office | Government | Ohio County WV | The Official Site of the Ohio County Commission), phone 304-234-3680, Monday-Friday: 8:00am-4:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Wheeling
Whether someone was arrested in Wheeling, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Ohio County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courtswv.gov/court-record-access); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at ohiocountywv.gov/government/prosecuting-attorney-of-ohio-county/21, phone (304) 234-3631).
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 Wheeling
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Wheeling police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at wheelingwv.gov/directory/Police/police-faq (page title: Police FAQ's), phone 304-234-3664, 911 Location WPD Headquarters 2115 Chapline Street Wheeling, WV 26003, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Ohio County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 304-234-3680.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (304) 234-3631, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Ohio County Circuit Court, through the court records page at courtswv.gov/court-record-access.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
The Ohio County guide covers every agency in the county: Ohio County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wheeling each year?
Wheeling reported 797 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wheeling?
Ask the Ohio County Sheriff's Office at 304-234-3680; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ohiocountywv.gov.
Where are people arrested in Wheeling booked?
In the regional jail that serves Ohio County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Are arrest records public in Wheeling?
The court files of criminal cases in the Ohio 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 Wheeling?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wheeling police for its own arrests, the Ohio 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 Wheeling 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.