How to Get Court Records
Custody comes first. The Pendleton County Circuit Clerk keeps Circuit Court and Family Court pleadings, orders, dockets, and the files behind them. Traffic citations, misdemeanors, preliminary felony matters, and small civil claims all belong to the Magistrate Clerk instead. For Circuit and Family cases, search WVPASS. For the lower-court layer, use the Magistrate Case Record Search. Neither display substitutes for a clerk-certified copy.
Enter the exact case number whenever you can. A name match alone can pull up the wrong person or the wrong case. Is an older Pendleton County court record missing an image? Call or visit the clerk who holds it. Mail requests go to that same clerk. Confirm the amount, copy form, and delivery terms first. Staff can also tell you whether an open file may be inspected under supervision.
- Identify Circuit, Family, or Magistrate Court from the notice, order, or case number.
- Search the matching state portal and note the case number, document title, and filing date.
- Choose a plain, attested, certified, or other required copy form.
- Call the responsible Pendleton clerk to confirm access, cost, payment, postage, and archive retrieval.
- Submit the request by the clerk-approved counter or mail channel and provide contact details.
Pendleton County Court Record Custody
Several records offices share the Franklin courthouse. Each holds something different. The Circuit Clerk keeps Circuit complaints, indictments, motions, orders, appeals, and Family Court filings. The Magistrate Clerk keeps citations, bonds, misdemeanors, preliminary hearings, and small civil cases. Deeds, wills, and probate items go to the County Clerk. Judgment indexes and County Commission records go there too. The County Clerk's Document Inquiry may surface a recorded judgment or release. It is not a Pendleton County court docket, though.
Pendleton County Circuit Clerk
10 South Main Street, second floor
P.O. Box 846, Franklin, WV 26807
304-358-7067
Pendleton Magistrate Clerk
10 South Main Street
P.O. Box 637, Franklin, WV 26807
304-358-2343 or 304-358-2344
Let the hearing notice, not a circuit judge's administrative address, tell you where to appear. The Twenty-Sixth Judicial Circuit covers Hampshire, Hardy, and Pendleton. An official contact may list Romney or Moorefield while the file stays in Franklin.
Types of Court Records
Pendleton County court records run from a single docket line to a signed order. The docket itself is a chronological index of filings and events. Behind those entries sits the full case file with the underlying papers. What can the public see? It depends on the case type. It also depends on any statute, rule, or order that limits access.
- Circuit civil complaints, motions, orders, judgments, and appeal papers
- Circuit criminal indictments, motions, hearing entries, pleas, and sentencing orders
- Magistrate traffic, misdemeanor, bond, preliminary-hearing, and civil records
- Family Court public orders and indexes, subject to tighter file limits
- Recorded county judgments, releases, probate items, and wills held by the County Clerk
Tracing one civil judgment may take two records. The court file shows what the judge ordered. The county document index shows what was later recorded, with its own book, page, instrument number, and date.
Pendleton County Court Record Certification
A portal download and a clerk-certified copy are not the same thing. WVPASS states plainly that its downloads are not certified. MCR is a public information display, not a certification service. For Circuit and Family files, ask the Pendleton Circuit Clerk. For Magistrate files, ask the Pendleton Magistrate Clerk. That includes traffic and small civil matters.
Give the clerk the full case number and the document title. Add the filing date if you know it. Say whether you need a plain, attested, certified, or exemplified copy. The clerk can confirm the item is public before you pay. The clerk can quote copy, certification, postage, and any archive-retrieval cost.
Pendleton County Federal Court Records
Federal cases never appear in Pendleton County state portals. The area falls within the Northern District of West Virginia, and its official court site routes federal civil, criminal, and habeas research to PACER or the federal clerk. That official source identifies the Elkins location and supplies the court links.
Use the federal case number when you have it. That narrows results and keeps a federal docket from being mistaken for a Pendleton Circuit Court record. The official PACER pricing page covers federal access fees, document caps, quarterly billing waivers, and public-terminal access.
PACER charges are federal terms, not Pendleton clerk fees. Federal courthouse terminals may offer another access route.
What a Court Record Contains
A public case display can confirm the court, the case type, and the status. It can also confirm the event history. MCR offers structured detail rather than one docket PDF. Fields vary with the case. A blank field does not mean no related paper exists. The complete clerk file may hold material that was never scanned or cannot be shown publicly. The official Magistrate payment source lists the separate citation, case, and payment-plan identifiers used for exact matching.
Those payment fields are narrow lookup keys. They do not replace the full MCR court record or a certified clerk copy.
| Case ID | Court code, Pendleton identifier, year, case series, and sequence where used. |
|---|---|
| Case Basics | Location, description, filing date, type, trial type, amount, appearance date, and agency. |
| Parties | Names and roles in the public portion; private identifiers should not be republished. |
| Charges or Claims | Allegation, citation, plea, disposition, claim amount, or judgment fields when applicable. |
| Event Schedule | Event type, date, time, room, location, judge, and closure reason when entered. |
| Docket Entries | A dated register of filings, notices, service events, orders, payments, and disposition steps. |
Here is a sample number from a Pendleton County felony docket: CC-36-2023-F-3. The 36 is the county code, and the F marks the felony series. So treat a partial number as a hint, not a verdict, and confirm the current coding with the clerk before you rely on it.
Pendleton County Court Record Technology
Pendleton County moved its case work onto CourtPLUS and Circuit/Family E-File. The change came on October 1, 2018. CourtPLUS now runs the electronic docket and the Vault repository. Clerks scan older paper records into the system. State rules treat an electronic filing stamp as an official entry. Public electronic access follows, unless a record is sealed or confidential.
The switch did not put every old Pendleton court record on a screen, though. Self-represented litigants still hand the clerk paper filings. Sealed underlying documents stay on paper. Historic material may sit in an archive or a legacy system. When a public case has no image, the clerk is the fallback.
Pendleton County Treatment Court Records
Pendleton County shares its treatment court with its neighbors. The South Branch Treatment Court contact page lists the program contacts for Hampshire, Hardy, and Pendleton Counties. The court itself posts no separate treatment-court docket or eligibility roster for the public.
Treatment activity usually lives inside the criminal or Family Court case that sent the person there, in the docket entries and orders of that file. Some of it can be restricted. Ask the clerk who keeps the case file what you may see before you plan a records request.
Certified Copies and Fees
One catch with WVPASS: the downloads are not certified. A certified copy gets checked against the original court record, then stamped with the clerk's certification, signature, and seal. An attested copy comes with a sworn attestation but no seal. Exemplified copies may need extra authentication for use out of state, so tell the clerk how you plan to use the copy before you order it.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| WVPASS public document view or download | $0.25 per page |
| Clerk transcript, copy, or paper to go out | $1 per page under W.Va. Code §59-1-11 |
| Abstract of judgment | $5 |
| Arrange appeal papers | $10 |
| Postage or express delivery | Actual cost |
The statutory fee schedule is a floor, not a fixed bill. Certification, pulling a file from the archive, postage, and special formats can each raise the total. Call the clerk's office for the exact amount before you mail a payment for any Pendleton County court record.
Pendleton County Court Record Archives
Nothing in a Pendleton County docket search proves an old file is gone. WVPASS reaches public Circuit cases filed from July 1, 1999, forward. Even then, scanning varied from case to case. West Virginia law lets clerks preserve court records in other approved forms. These include microfilm, electronic media, and indexes.
Requesting an archived file takes a few details. Give the clerk the court and the rough year. Add the party names. Include any number printed on an old order. Ask the Circuit or Magistrate Clerk where the file sits. Ask how long retrieval takes and what copy and delivery charges apply.
Older Pendleton County Court Records
WVPASS covers public Circuit cases filed from July 1, 1999 and later. Its gaps do not mean a Pendleton County court record was destroyed. Pendleton joined CourtPLUS and Circuit/Family E-File on October 1, 2018. Clerks scan paper filings into Vault. Yet some historic material stays in clerk-controlled systems or archives. Self-represented litigants still file on paper. Sealed underlying documents are paper-filed too.
For an old case, hand the clerk the court and the approximate year. Include the party names. Add any number from an order or index. Ask whether the file is archived and what retrieval time or fee applies. West Virginia Code §51-4-3 covers preservation and the media clerks may use. A blank portal image is not proof the record no longer exists.
Portal coverage and scan status vary. So the responsible Pendleton clerk is still the best source on an old file.
Public Access and Sealed Records
Open Pendleton County court records can be inspected at reasonable times. Statutes, rules, and court orders still govern access. Staff pulls the original file and supervises the review. Public access never obliges staff to read a whole case file over the phone. It does cover a reasonable question about whether an open file may be inspected. And it covers how to get copies.
Key Rules:
W.Va. Code §51-4-2 directs clerks to make court records available unless another law limits access.
Trial Court Rules 10.03–10.04 govern inspection and copying with court-record access limits.
W.Va. Code §29B-1-4 states FOIA exemptions, including privacy limits.
W.Va. Code §48-1-303 distinguishes public domestic orders from confidential pleadings and exhibits.
State law keeps juvenile records closed in most situations. A portal search box does not turn sealed or expunged records public. When access is unclear, ask the clerk whether a public order or index can be provided without revealing the protected file itself.
Pendleton County Court Record Inspection
Some Pendleton County court records are public yet sit only on paper. When that happens, a trip to the courthouse is the answer. Call ahead first so the clerk can pull the right file. Give staff the case number, names, and dates you have. The Circuit Clerk works from the second floor at 10 South Main Street in Franklin. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Magistrate Clerk keeps a separate office and phone line at the same street address. So pick the right one for your case type.
Before you go, write down the titles and dates of the documents you want. That small step saves everyone time. Always ask before you copy or photograph anything. Original court files stay with staff. You will review them in a set area rather than carry them off. If your real aim is a hearing rather than a file, confirm the location with the clerk. The judge's office address in this shared circuit is not always where the hearing takes place.