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 2, 2026.
Berkeley County, West Virginia, has about 136,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and four campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 Berkeley County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Berkeley County public records, West Virginia arrest records, West Virginia inmate search and West Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Berkeley County
The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Berkeley County. It reported 782 arrests for 2025.
One city in Berkeley County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Martinsburg, 19,047 residents: 1,423 arrests reported for 2021.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Berkeley County: the State Fire Marshal in Berkeley County and the Department of Natural Resources in Berkeley County (state agency); Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force (other); the Martinsburg State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Berkeley County Sheriff's Office: 782 for 2025, 887 for 2024, 621 for 2023, 550 for 2022, 735 for 2021 and 684 for 2020.
- Martinsburg: 1,423 for 2021, 1,477 for 2020 and 1,388 for 2019.
The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office's 782 arrests in 2025 were down 12 percent from 887 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Berkeley County Sheriff's Office reported 299 arrests, against 532 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Berkeley County 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 Berkeley County goes to the regional jail that serves Berkeley County, and the state's inmate search covers all of them.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 290 people, down from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 285 beds, and it ran at 95 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 Berkeley County Sheriff's Office at berkeleywv.org/265/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Berkeley County, WV), 510 S. Raleigh Street Martinsburg, WV 25401, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Berkeley County
For Berkeley County the place to look is the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at berkeleywv.org/164/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 304-264-1971).
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 Berkeley County
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 Berkeley County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Martinsburg: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the State Fire Marshal in Berkeley County, Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force or the Martinsburg State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 304-264-1971, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at berkeleywv.org (page title: File a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request | Berkeley County, WV).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
Cities in Berkeley County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Berkeley County: Martinsburg. Hedgesville has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the regional jail and the case goes to the Berkeley County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Berkeley County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Martinsburg (19,047)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Berkeley County each year?
The Berkeley County Sheriff's Office reported 782 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Berkeley County?
Ask the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at berkeleywv.org/265/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Berkeley County booked?
In the regional jail that serves Berkeley County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Are arrest records public in Berkeley County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Berkeley 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 Berkeley County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at berkeleywv.org.
Is this the official Berkeley County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.