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 October 4, 2026.
Wayne County, West Virginia, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person held after an arrest in Wayne County is at the regional jail that serves Wayne 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: Wayne County public records, Wayne County arrest records, Wayne County warrants, Wayne County criminal records, Wayne County court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Wayne 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 Wayne County is at the regional jail that serves Wayne County, and the state's inmate search covers all of them.
That search is at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx.
Wayne County in the Regional Jail: The Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the regional jail held about 88 people from Wayne County, down from about 120 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Wayne County has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so about 23 of every 10,000 of them are in the regional jail on an average day.
Who Books People
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Kenova, Wayne, Ceredo and Fort Gay make the arrests that end in a booking in Wayne County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Wayne County: the Wayne State Police (state police); the State Fire Marshal in Wayne County and the Department of Natural Resources in Wayne County (state agency).
The Huntington Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Wayne County, so its arrests are not broken out for Wayne County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Kenova's 252 for 2025, Ceredo's 83 for 2025 and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office's 40 for 2024.
Together, the two agencies in Wayne County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 335 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 Wayne 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 Wayne 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 Wayne County?
Through the state's inmate search at dcr.wv.gov/offendersearch/Pages/default.aspx, which covers every regional jail; the page of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified is at waynecountywv.org/sheriff.php.
How many people from Wayne County are in the regional jail?
About 88 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Wayne 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 Wayne 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.