Name-Based Case Searches
Begin at the West Virginia Judiciary Court Record Access page. Two tools live there. Pick WVPASS for a Circuit Court case. That covers civil or criminal. Pick Magistrate Case Record Search, called MCRSearch, for traffic, misdemeanor, preliminary-hearing, and small civil matters. Mingo County has no separate search portal of its own.
- Identify the court from a citation, summons, order, or other record.
- Choose the Circuit or Magistrate search from Court Record Access.
- In MCRSearch, pass the captcha and enter a first name, last name, or case number as the official guide allows.
- Review the list, which may contain up to 30 records, and compare filing date, court, and case type.
- Record the full case number and confirm the match with the filing clerk before requesting documents.
A common last name will return many hits, so resist grabbing the first row. MCRSearch caps how much it shows you. Narrow things down with a case number or the filing county. WVPASS works only after registration. Its live application does not expose the form fields until you are inside. So trust the official access description rather than guesses about what the form asks.
| Field | Type | Required | Verified Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCRSearch first name | Text | Unspecified | Official guide permits first or last name. |
| MCRSearch last name | Text | Unspecified | May return up to 30 records. |
| MCRSearch case number | Text | Unspecified | Exact format is not published in the guide. |
| WVPASS | Registered application | Account required | Live search fields could not be inspected. |
Two Mingo County Search Systems
Those two links are not interchangeable doors to every case. WVPASS is the public Circuit Court record application. The Judiciary announcement says it launched statewide in March 2025. It reaches Circuit records back to 1999. MCRSearch is the free Magistrate case-information system. The official guide says it supplies information rather than online documents.
The split tracks the offices. Lonnie Hannah is the Mingo County Circuit Clerk. She maintains Circuit records and the public route to Family Court indices and orders. Teresa L. Lackey, the Magistrate Clerk, keeps traffic, misdemeanor, preliminary, and small-civil files. Larry “Yogi” Croaff, the County Clerk, holds probate, land, wills, and county records. Those are not Circuit Court dockets. Call “the county clerk” about a felony docket. Your request lands in the wrong stream.
Case Number Searches
A case number is the strongest retrieval key. Official Mingo sources show more than one shape. A Circuit civil action may look like 21-C-11. A felony example is 18-F-46. The Circuit Clerk manual uses 19-M-## for a misdemeanor filed in Circuit Court. It lists 19-M-AP-## as a municipal-appeal model. An appellate decision carries a longer identifier, such as CC-30-2023-JA-96.
Never strip letters, zeros, or separators unless a system prompt tells you to. Each court builds its sequence differently. MCRSearch's accessible guide publishes no exact case-number mask. WVPASS does not reveal its fields before you log in. So copy the number straight from your newest court paper. Give the clerk that same full value if the portal fails.
MCRSearch for Mingo County Cases
The official Magistrate Record Search guide explains the public scope.
Here is the key limit worth repeating. MCRSearch can locate Magistrate case information. The filed documents stay with the Mingo Magistrate Clerk.
What does it show? The 2024 Judiciary annual report describes its output. That can include a defendant birthdate, filing date, charge, disposition, and a list of documents in the file. A list is not the document itself. For a complaint, order, judgment, or certified copy, contact the Magistrate Clerk at 101 Logan Street, Room 303, Williamson. Or call (304) 235-2445. The system also warns that records can be incomplete. It tells users to validate them with the clerk where the case was filed.
Case Search Results Explained
Think of a result row as a way to identify a file and track public court activity. It is a set of linked fields, not a final account. A status can change with a later entry. A disposition label may need the order behind it. A hearing can move. The filing clerk holds the source record.
| Case Number | The court-assigned identifier used for matching and copy requests. |
|---|---|
| Case Style | The caption or party names, subject to public-access limits. |
| Filed Date | The date the matter entered that court, not necessarily the event date. |
| Case Type or Charge | The civil category, alleged offense, or proceeding type. |
| Status or Disposition | The recorded stage or result, which must be read with later entries. |
| Document List | An index of papers held in the file, not online images in MCRSearch. |
A docket runs in order. “Dismissed” records a result, but the reason may live only in an order. “Continuance” means a date moved, not that the case ended. And a “certified copy” is a clerk-authenticated record. It is not something you get by saving a browser page.
WVPASS and Mingo County Records
The state Court Record Access page lays out West Virginia's public choices for Circuit and Magistrate records.
That statewide landing page is the dependable route to the current services. It also keeps a Circuit search from being run by mistake in the Magistrate system.
WVPASS searches are free after registration, per the launch notice. The notice described a per-page download charge for documents, though the current application governs the amount. If WVPASS is down, call the Circuit Clerk at (304) 235-0320 or visit 78 East Second Avenue, Room 232. Ask there whether your item is digital, paper, archived, or on microfilm. A focused mail request should identify the case number, style, and approximate filing date. It should also name the exact document. Include the requested format, return address, and contact information. Call first for current payment and mailing instructions, since no Mingo-specific form or turnaround has been published.
Two Ways to Search: County and State
Mingo County runs no separate county docket portal for the courts covered here. The state products are both the local web path and a statewide layer. Local offices add what an online index cannot: document access, certification, help with older files, and confirmation from a person.
| Statewide Web Layer | Mingo County Clerk Layer |
|---|---|
| WVPASS for participating Circuit records since 1999 | Circuit file, document copies, certified records, archives, and restricted-access questions |
| MCRSearch for Magistrate case information | Magistrate pleadings, orders, judgments, and file validation |
| Search from home when the service works | Phone, counter, public-access area, and focused written request |
| Informational result | Originating official record |
CourtPLUS/WV E-File is the filing and case-management system. It runs behind Mingo County's Circuit Court and Family Court. Mingo went live in January 2022. The system then reached every county by July 2024, so the same platform now supports dockets statewide. The attorney filing screen is not a substitute for WVPASS. That remains the tool the public uses.
Older Mingo County Docket Searches
WVPASS lists Mingo County Circuit Court records going back to 1999. Anything older likely lives in paper at the courthouse. Even some newer files wait on scanning or sit in storage. Start your docket search with the right office. Use the Circuit Clerk for Circuit cases. Use the Magistrate Clerk for Magistrate cases. Give them the filing year and name the exact document you want. Vague requests bog down when the same surname repeats.
A missing case deserves a follow-up question. When a case does not appear in the public index, ask the clerk whether a public docket entry, index, or order exists and whether the underlying paper can be viewed. Many courthouses offer a terminal or a file-review area at the counter. A phone call can confirm a hearing date. The Circuit Clerk manual says staff do not have to read a whole file aloud, though. For a written request, mail still works fine.
Separate Mingo Municipal Searches
Municipal court sit apart from West Virginia's unified state system. Williamson, Delbarton, Matewan, Gilbert, and Kermit offer no official online docket search of their own. So a town ordinance case or a municipal traffic ticket can be absent from both WVPASS and MCRSearch. The town still holds a valid record. Call the municipality directly. Have the citation number, defendant name, issue date, court date, ordinance section, and copy type ready. Williamson takes calls at (304) 235-1510. Delbarton is (304) 475-3359. Matewan is (304) 426-4092. Gilbert is (304) 664-9625, and Kermit is (304) 393-3563. Confirm whether the case stayed municipal or moved into state Magistrate Court. A municipal appeal later draws a Circuit Court case number, and from that point the Mingo County Circuit Clerk holds the file.
Which Cases Stay Restricted
What stays restricted depends on the record and the law that governs it. Under West Virginia Family Court Rule 6, the pleadings, exhibits, recordings, and transcripts in a family case are confidential. The orders and indices usually stay public unless sealed. Juvenile records are confidential under West Virginia Code §49-5-101. Domestic-violence material may also be masked or withheld. So may personal identifiers, sealed civil portions, and expunged records.
A blank search result does not prove a case never existed. The file might be family, juvenile, sealed, expunged, newly filed, old, or municipal. Ask the correct Mingo County clerk what index or order is public. Ask what process applies. Public access also rests on West Virginia Code §51-4-2 and Trial Court Rule 10. Neither one lets a portal user step around a statute or a court order.
Remember that a search result is not certified proof. When you need the paper behind a docket entry, follow the Mingo County court case records process. Ask for that exact document. Give the case number and entry date.