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.
Ohio County, West Virginia, has about 41,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ohio County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and five 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 Ohio 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: Ohio County public records, West Virginia arrest records, West Virginia inmate search and West Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ohio County
The Ohio County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ohio County. It reported 276 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Ohio County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Wheeling, 26,060 residents: 797 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bethlehem, 2,563 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2023.
- West Liberty, 1,434 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Triadelphia, 662 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Clearview, 457 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2022.
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 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 Each Agency Reports in Ohio County
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.
- Triadelphia: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Wheeling: 797 for 2025, 890 for 2024, 925 for 2022 and 779 for 2020; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Ohio County Sheriff's Office: 276 for 2025, 246 for 2024, 185 for 2023, 176 for 2022, 257 for 2021 and 211 for 2020.
- West Liberty: 0 for 2025.
- Bethlehem: 1 for 2023.
- Clearview: 0 for 2022, 0 for 2021, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,225 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,225 in 2025 against 2,288 in 2024, down 2.8 percent.
Through June 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,140 arrests, against 1,096 in the same months of 2025.
Clearview and Bethlehem reported only part of 2025 (10 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ohio 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 Ohio County 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 Ohio County
An arrest in Ohio County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 Ohio County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Ohio County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 304-234-3680.
- An arrest in Wheeling, Bethlehem, West Liberty, Triadelphia or Clearview: 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 Wheeling State Police, Ohio Valley Drug and Violent Crime Task Force or the State Fire Marshal in Ohio County: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Ohio County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the six cities in Ohio County: Wheeling, Bethlehem, West Liberty, Triadelphia and Clearview. Valley Grove 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 Ohio County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Ohio County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Wheeling (26,060)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ohio County each year?
Triadelphia reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,225 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ohio County?
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 Ohio County booked?
In the regional jail that serves Ohio County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Are arrest records public in Ohio County?
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 Ohio County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ohio 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.
Is this the official Ohio 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.