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 on September 24, 2026.
Braxton County, West Virginia, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In West Virginia the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the West Virginia State Police is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Braxton County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Braxton County public records, Braxton County arrest records, Braxton County warrants, Braxton County inmate search, Braxton County court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Braxton County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Braxton County is filed in the Braxton County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $10,000, and the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courtswv.gov/public-resources/court-information-county/braxton_county (page title: Braxton County Information | West Virginia Judiciary), phone 304-587-2546, 246 Main Street, 2nd Floor PO Box 129 Clay, WV 25043, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
West Virginia has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The West Virginia Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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 file in the Braxton County Circuit Court is the public record.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Braxton County
The Braxton County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Gassaway and Burnsville keep the arrest records in Braxton County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Braxton County: the State Fire Marshal in Braxton County and the Department of Natural Resources in Braxton County (state agency); the Sutton State Police (state police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the two agencies in Braxton County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,304 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Braxton County arrest records.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Braxton County
The Prosecuting Attorney decides which arrests in Braxton County become charges and files them in the Braxton County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at braxtoncountywv.gov/county-prosecuting-attorney (page title: County Prosecuting Attorney | Braxton County, WV), phone 304-765-3880, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Braxton County
Registered sex offenders living in Braxton County are listed on the West Virginia Sex Offender Registry, run by the West Virginia State Police at apps.wv.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Braxton County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Braxton County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Braxton 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.
Can I search Braxton County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courtswv.gov (page title: Braxton County Information | West Virginia Judiciary).
How do I get my own West Virginia criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
Who prosecutes crimes in Braxton County?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at 304-765-3880, which files its cases in the Braxton County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court.
Is this the official Braxton 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.