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 4, 2026.
Webster County, West Virginia, has about 7,900 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 Webster County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Webster County public records, Webster County arrest records, Webster County warrants, Webster County inmate search, Webster County court records, West Virginia arrest records and West Virginia inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Webster County Circuit Court
In West Virginia the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Webster County are heard by the Webster County Circuit Court, which hears felonies, the larger civil cases and juvenile matters; the Magistrate Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $10,000, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Clerk.
For Webster County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at courtswv.gov/court-record-access (page title: Court Record Access | Search Landing Page | West Virginia Judiciary), phone 304-587-2546, 246 Main Street, 2nd Floor PO Box 129 Clay, WV 25043, 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 Webster County
The Webster County Sheriff's Office keeps the arrest records in Webster 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 Webster County: the State Fire Marshal in Webster County and the Department of Natural Resources in Webster County (state agency); the Upperglade State Police (state police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Webster Springs reported 1,146 arrests to the FBI for 2019; 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 Webster County arrest records.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Webster County
Charges in Webster County are filed by the Prosecuting Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Webster County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at webstercounty.wv.gov/countygovernmentagencies/Pages/countyprosecuti... (page title: County Prosecuting Attorney), phone 304-847-7164, 137 South Main Street Webster Springs, WV 26288, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Webster County
Registered sex offenders living in Webster 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 Webster 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 Webster County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Webster 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 Webster County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courtswv.gov/court-record-access (page title: Court Record Access | Search Landing Page | West Virginia Judiciary).
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 Webster County?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at 304-847-7164, which files its cases in the Webster County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court.
Is this the official Webster 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.