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 on September 30, 2026.
Upshur County, West Virginia, has about 24,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Upshur County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and four 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 Upshur 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: Upshur County public records, West Virginia arrest records, West Virginia inmate search and West Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Upshur County
The Upshur County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Upshur County. It reported 171 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Upshur County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Buckhannon, 5,049 residents: 196 arrests reported for 2025.
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 Upshur County: the Department of Natural Resources in Upshur County and the State Fire Marshal in Upshur County (state agency); Mountain Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force (other); the Buckhannon State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Upshur 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.
- Buckhannon: 196 for 2025, 164 for 2024, 158 for 2023, 167 for 2021 and 197 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
- Upshur County Sheriff's Office: 171 for 2025, 185 for 2024, 140 for 2023, 118 for 2022, 87 for 2021 and 54 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 367 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 367 in 2025 against 349 in 2024, up 5.2 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 208 arrests, against 245 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Upshur 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 Upshur County goes to the regional jail that serves Upshur County, and the state's inmate search covers all of them.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 71 people, down from about 91 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 65 beds, and it ran at 104 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Upshur County
For Upshur County the place to look is the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at upshurcounty.org/departments/prosecuting_attorney_s_office/index.php, phone (304) 472-9699).
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 Upshur County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Upshur County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Buckhannon: 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 Department of Natural Resources in Upshur County, the State Fire Marshal in Upshur County or Mountain Regional Drug and Violent Crime Task Force: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (304) 472-9699, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police Criminal Identification Bureau.
Cities in Upshur County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Buckhannon, the one city in Upshur County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the regional jail and the case goes to the Upshur County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Upshur County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Buckhannon (5,049)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Upshur County each year?
Buckhannon reported 196 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 367 between them.
Where are people arrested in Upshur County booked?
In the regional jail that serves Upshur County, run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Are arrest records public in Upshur County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Upshur 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 Upshur County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Upshur 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 Upshur 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.