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 September 30, 2026.
Mercer County, West Virginia, has about 58,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person held after an arrest in Mercer County is at the regional jail that serves Mercer 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: Mercer County public records, Mercer County arrest records, Mercer County warrants, Mercer County police reports, Mercer County property records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Mercer County
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 Mercer County is at the regional jail that serves Mercer County, and the state's inmate search covers all of them.
That search is at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
Mercer County in the Regional Jail: The Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the regional jail held about 130 people from Mercer County, down from about 150 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Mercer County has about 58,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so about 22 of every 10,000 of them are in the regional jail on an average day.
Who Books People
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Bluefield and Princeton make the arrests that end in a booking in Mercer County.
The FBI's agency list also places two campus police departments, two state agencies, one other agency and one state police unit in Mercer County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Bluefield's 1,212 for 2025, Matoaka's 1,152 for 2025 and the Mercer County Sheriff's Office's 732 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Mercer County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,096 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 Mercer County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Mercer County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Mercer County?
Through the state's inmate search at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx, which covers every regional jail; the page of the Mercer County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified is at mercercountywv.com/agencies/sheriff.
How many people from Mercer County are in the regional jail?
About 130 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Mercer 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 Mercer 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.