West Virginia Court Docket Search
A West Virginia court docket is used to keep track of all the cases in West Virginia courthouses. It is used to find the synopsis of every proceeding and other relevant details of what is happening since a case was filed. Court dockets also ensure that every pending case is heard and parties involved are settled most efficiently and timely. Each case has a unique tracking number assigned by the court, which helps lawyers or judges identify a document, the names of the parties involved in a case, and the date and time of appearances. The court docket also summarizes all the motions, briefs, or pleadings filed in a case.
Pursuant to West Virginia’s public record law, dockets, and West Virginia court record information, in general, are available to interested members of the public unless otherwise specified by judicial order.
What is a Court Docket in West Virginia?
In West Virginia, court dockets are official records that contain all the information about judicial proceedings. They record the complete history of every legal case, including important details such as the case date, the court case number assigned to the document, judgments, orders, declarations, exhibits, and other filings, such as payments of fees or continuances of dates.
In addition to providing a complete record of past proceedings, West Virginia court dockets also assist in maintaining records of upcoming proceedings or multiple cases in the court.
Are Court Dockets Public Records in West Virginia?
The West Virginia State open record law and the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) stipulate that all public bodies should provide public records in response to requests unless such records are forbidden from disclosure in any form. As such, court dockets in West Virginia are public records accessible to everyone in the state.
Notably, access to public records is limited when it involves highly-sensitive cases. As a result, judges sometimes direct court clerks to censor the personal information of individuals to protect their privacy. If anyone finds it difficult to get the required information, such a person contacts the court clerk for directives.
Should a clerk or record manager deny access to a public record, the aggrieved requestor approaches the supervisor of public records to prevail on the record custodian to make requested records available to them. Since a supervisor of public records cannot force a custodian to honor a public record request, aggrieved requestors may seek relief in court.
As public records, docket information about cases filed in circuit courts, family courts, and magistrate courts is available online through PACER.
What Do Court Dockets Contain in West Virginia?
West Virginia court dockets typically contain information about a particular court case. Although the exact format varies from one court to another, some of the elements in a West Virginia court docket include the following:
- A docket number, which identifies a specific case in the court
- Court dates, which shows all the important dates related to a case
- Party names and attorneys involved
- Case history, with a summary of the type of case and events that have occurred
- Documents filled, such as pleadings, motions, and orders
- Case status that reflects an ongoing, dismissed, or resolved case
- The court location where the suit is filed
- The judge presiding over the case
These entities provide a comprehensive report of who is involved in a case, the progress of the case, and litigations regarding the case in West Virginia.
Where to Find a Court Docket in West Virginia
People in West Virginia can find court dockets in the courthouse where the case was filed. As formal documents, court records are usually documented and maintained by the clerk in courthouses. As such, official copies of court dockets are mostly stored in the court clerk's office.
Court dockets in West Virginia are also available online through the West Virginia Judiciary portal. Individuals can access this site for all the relevant information about their cases. However, care should be taken while accessing third-party sites because documents found there may not be the same as the official ones filed by the court recorder.
How to Conduct a West Virginia Court Docket Search
Individuals who choose to access online dockets must visit the website of the presiding court or clerk of court and look for a secure online portal. This portal is connected to the court's case management database or managed separately. Nevertheless, it is often accessible by entering specific keywords, such as a case party's name, court's name, case number, attorney's name, judge's name, or filing date.
For instance, individuals seeking the Harrison County Circuit Court docket can utilize the court's case search tool by entering a name or case number. Once the search results are displayed, the researcher can click "Events" to view the court docket events for a case. Advanced search options are also available to users with a username and password, allowing them to obtain complete court docket information.
On the other hand, individuals wishing to view dockets generated by the West Virginia Supreme Court or Courts of Appeal can access the Online Public Docket site. Researchers can click on the links on the site to be directed to a web portal, where they can enter parameters such as a case number or party's name to view online appellate court dockets. Like the West Virginia appellate courts, the County Circuit Clerk's office also maintains an independent Court Docket Search tool for convenient access to court dockets.
Although several courts in West Virginia offer a secure court docket portal on the internet, it must, however, be noted that not all court cases are available online due to the privacy policy of some courthouses, so interested parties may still need to visit the courthouse handling their case to inspect dockets. Additionally, if the docket number or other key details about the docket are unknown, one may obtain printed copies of court dockets in person or by mail from a court clerk's office. Generally, there is always a charge per page for each copy request.
What is a Court Docket Number in West Virginia?
A docket number is an important identification number assigned to a court case as it is filed in the court. Once a docket number is assigned to a case, it must reflect on all papers submitted to the court. A typical docket number combines letters and numbers to track and manage a case throughout the judicial process. It includes:
- A two- or four-digit number that specifies the year the case was filed.
- A letter or number that indicates the court where the case was filed.
- The type of the suit filed (e.g CV/cv for civic cases or CR/cr for criminal cases)
- A four- or five-digit case number.
- Initials of the judge to whom the case is assigned.
Thus, 1:23-cr-5946-TJ is the docket number for the 5946th criminal case filed in the year 2023, assigned the court number 1 to the Honourable Tracy Jones.
Meanwhile, the arrangement of docket numbers can vary depending on the court where the case is filed. For instance, in West Virginia Circuit Court, the docket number consists of a two-letter court code, followed by the year of filing, a dash, and a sequential number. Whereas in Magistrate Court, the docket number consists of the year of filing, followed by a sequential number and the letters "MAG". But in Supreme and Appeal Courts, the docket number remains the same throughout West Virginia.
Understanding how the docket number works help individuals retrieve information about a case, including where and when a case was filed and upcoming hearings. Docket numbers are also used to identify the case in court documents and correspondence between the parties involved.
How to Conduct a Court Docket Number Lookup in West Virginia
Inspecting a court docket in West Virginia requires identifying a court docket number, which serves as a primary criterion regardless of the court where the record was generated. A court docket number is unique to each court case, enabling members of the public to easily locate information and documents filed in an unrestricted court case. To retrieve case information, a person possessing a court docket number can enter the digits on a Pennsylvania court's case access database or provide the number to the relevant clerk's office.
Suppose an individual is not a case party (i.e., the plaintiff or defendant), the case party's attorney, or a close relative, in that case, it can be difficult to ascertain the docket number associated with a case that is not of public interest. However, by indexing their records with other keywords, West Virginia courts simplify the search process and make it easier to retrieve case records even if the court docket number is unknown or unavailable.
Ideally, individuals seeking a court docket number should have the full name of the case party, the name of the case attorney, or the name of the presiding judge, depending on the available search options offered by the relevant court. The individual can then use these keywords to input into the online docket search system provided on the court or clerk of the court's website to locate the docket number assigned by the court.
Individuals who cannot access a court's docket online or lack an internet-enabled device may visit the court clerk's office during open hours to search via a kiosk (if available) or call the clerk's office for assistance. Another option is to request a copy of a public document filed in the case from the clerk's office for a nominal fee, as each record filed during a West Virginia court case includes a court docket number.
When a person visits, calls or writes the court to locate a court docket number, similar to the inquiries made on a court's online docket search portal, they must provide other search words, such as the case party's last name and filing date, to assist the court staff in their search. It is important to note that the court may require a fee to conduct record research on an individual's behalf.
