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 between September 24, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Preston County, West Virginia, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Preston County comes from a judge of the Preston County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Preston County public records, Preston County arrest records, Preston County inmate search, Preston County criminal records, Preston County court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Preston County
In West Virginia an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Preston County that means the Preston County Circuit Court, which hears felonies, the larger civil cases and juvenile matters; the Magistrate Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $10,000, issues its own warrants on the cases before it. A city with a municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
When a defendant misses a court date the judge issues a bench warrant, and either kind of warrant lives in the court file of the case, kept by the Circuit Clerk.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courtswv.gov/public-resources/court-information-county/preston (page title: Preston County | West Virginia Judiciary), phone 304-329-0066, 101 West Main Street, Room 303 Kingwood, WV 26537, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
West Virginia has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Serves Warrants in Preston County
The Preston County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Kingwood, Terra Alta, Reedsville and Masontown serve warrants in Preston County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Preston County: the Department of Natural Resources in Preston County and the State Fire Marshal in Preston County (state agency); the Kingwood State Police (state police); each serves warrants on its own ground.
A warrant issued in Preston County is good anywhere in West Virginia, so it is served by whichever agency finds the person, in a traffic stop as often as at the door.
Together, the four agencies in Preston County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,638 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Preston County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Preston County Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody goes to the regional jail that serves Preston County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the state's inmate search is at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
A person arrested in Preston County on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Preston County
The place to check for a warrant from Preston County is the Prosecuting Attorney, which can say whether charges were filed; a warrant on a complaint follows the filing.
The one Preston County page SearchSystems verified, the prosecutor's, is not a list of open warrants.
The statewide criminal history kept by the West Virginia State Police is not open to the public in West Virginia, so it is not a route to a warrant check on someone else.
Clearing a Warrant from Preston County
A warrant is recalled by the court that issued it, so clearing one from Preston County starts with the Circuit Clerk: the case goes back on the calendar and the judge recalls the warrant when the person appears.
A missed date in a case before the Magistrate Court is handled by that court, not by the Preston County Circuit Court.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The Prosecuting Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at prestoncountywv.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Preston County?
Not from the Preston County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court that issued it keeps the record; ask the Circuit Clerk.
Who serves warrants in Preston County?
The Preston County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; a West Virginia warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Preston County held?
In the regional jail that serves Preston County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
How is a warrant from Preston County cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Circuit Clerk.
Is this the official Preston 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.