Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime 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 between September 24, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Monroe 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 Monroe County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Monroe County public records, Monroe County arrest records, Monroe County warrants, Monroe County inmate search, Monroe County court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Monroe County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Monroe County is filed in the Monroe 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 monroecountywv.gov/clerk/online-document-inquiry/159 (page title: Online Document Inquiry | Clerk | Monroe County West Virginia | Monroe County West Virginia | Monroe County WV), 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
The statewide criminal history kept by the West Virginia State Police is closed to the public in West Virginia: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office keeps the arrest records in Monroe 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 Monroe County: the Department of Natural Resources in Monroe County and the State Fire Marshal in Monroe County (state agency); the Union State Police (state police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Alderson Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Monroe County, so its arrests are not broken out for Monroe County here.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office reported 26 arrests to the FBI for 2025; 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 Monroe County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Monroe County in 2025
The one agency in Monroe County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2 violent and 13 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 15 crimes in 2025 against 11 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Monroe County public records guide.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Monroe County
Charges in Monroe County are filed by the Prosecuting Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Monroe County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at monroecountywv.gov/prosecuting-attorney- (page title: Prosecuting Attorney | Monroe County West Virginia | Monroe County West Virginia | Monroe County WV Commission), phone 304-772-3083, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Monroe County
Registered sex offenders living in Monroe 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 Monroe 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 Monroe County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Monroe 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 Monroe County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at monroecountywv.gov (page title: Online Document Inquiry | Clerk | Monroe County West Virginia | Monroe County West Virginia | Monroe County WV).
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 Monroe County?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at 304-772-3083, which files its cases in the Monroe County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court.
Is this the official Monroe 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.