How to Search Criminal Dockets
Two official routes cover Morgan County. For Circuit criminal records, the public side is WVPASS. It may also supply public Circuit documents. For Magistrate misdemeanors, traffic cases, warrants, and preliminary felony matters, use MCRSearch. It shows case history and document labels but no document images.
Have the exact name, filing year, court, and case number ready. Keep the punctuation intact. Remember that a felony can start in Magistrate Court and later pick up a Circuit number.
- Identify the court on the notice or bond paper.
- Use WVPASS for Circuit or MCRSearch for Magistrate Court.
- Search the exact number first, then try the public name fields.
- Check county, charge, settings, events, and disposition.
- Request the filed order from the clerk when its words matter.
Morgan County's Two Search Layers
The two layers matter. Morgan County Magistrate Court takes misdemeanors, preliminary felony work, warrants, and state traffic citations. The Circuit Court of Morgan County receives felonies after indictment or information. It also hears eligible appeals from the lower court.
MCRSearch stops at 30 results per search. For Magistrate documents, call Clerk Ashley N. Moss at 304-258-8631. For Circuit activity, register for WVPASS and pick Morgan County. Whenever an entry says "bound over" or "transferred," search both layers.
Transfer is not an outcome. It means the matter moved to another stage or court, not that it ended.
What a Criminal Docket Shows
Think of a Morgan County criminal docket as a chronological index of events. One caution: a charge is only an allegation, never a finding of guilt. Read down to the latest public entry before you describe where a case stands.
| Case number | 26-F-### marks a Circuit felony; 26-B-### can mark a bound-over felony. |
|---|---|
| Charge | The alleged offense, subject to amendment and adjudication. |
| Events | Filed papers, hearings, motions, orders, and transfers. |
| Setting | Date, time, courtroom, magistrate, or judge when shown. |
| Disposition | The reported resolution, best checked against the final order. |
A short docket label never replaces the filed paper itself. When exact terms matter, request that document.
Morgan Criminal Number Changes
The Circuit Clerk's code list uses two codes. A bound-over felony is written as YY-B-###. A post-indictment or post-information case is YY-F-###. The new Circuit file does not erase the Magistrate history. Record both numbers, the transfer date, and the court names. Then check MCRSearch for the preliminary events and WVPASS for the Circuit ones.
Names or dates can differ between the two files. Ask the clerks to confirm the link rather than assuming the results are separate matters. This matters most with the lower-court page. It may show a charge with no final Circuit result.
Morgan County Disposition Terms
A disposition is the result reported for a charge or case. It is not a hearing event. In MCRSearch you may see a disposition field, a disposition date, an event number, a local code, and plain-language event text. Those pieces only make sense together. An entry saying a hearing was continued means the date moved, not that the charge was dismissed. A document label proves only that the clerk indexed an item, not that its full contents are online.
- Continued
- The scheduled event moved to another date.
- Dismissed
- The court ended a charge or case as stated in the order.
- Convicted
- The record reports an adjudicated guilty result.
- Capias
- A court order directs that a person be taken into custody.
If a public field and a filed order disagree, trust the order and confirm it with the clerk. Portal entries can change after later court action. So note your access date.
Stages on a Criminal Docket
A typical Morgan County Circuit path is Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing. Lower-court events may come first. Notices and continuances can add dates without ending the case.
An arraignment records the formal response to a charge. A plea event needs its related order or later disposition for context. A capias is a court order directing that a person be taken into custody, so read it alongside later service, hearing, or recall entries.
Morgan County Criminal Filing Context
The 2025 Judiciary annual report counts 82 Morgan Circuit criminal filings: 53 felonies, one Magistrate appeal, eight misdemeanors, and 20 other criminal cases. Those are workload groups. They are not a list of people or convictions.
Annual counts measure court volume. They cannot tell you the status of any specific case. Only the docket and its filed orders can do that.
Morgan shares the current Twenty-Seventh Judicial Circuit with Berkeley County. A Morgan case keeps its Morgan County number even when a circuit judge holds a proceeding at the Berkeley County Judicial Center. Search by filing county and number. Then read the newest filed notice for the hearing site. A Martinsburg setting alone does not make it a Berkeley County filing. An older local page may still show Morgan's former circuit number. Current Judiciary information and the court notice control.
Which Court Holds Criminal Dockets
Ashley N. Moss keeps Morgan County Magistrate criminal records in Room 202 at 77 Fairfax Street, Berkeley Springs. Circuit Clerk Melanie Shambaugh keeps the Circuit criminal records in Room 302. Municipal ordinance matters stay with Bath or Paw Paw unless an appeal creates a Circuit file.
| Matter | Search | Custodian |
|---|---|---|
| Felony preliminary stage | MCRSearch | Magistrate Clerk |
| Felony after indictment | WVPASS | Circuit Clerk |
| State misdemeanor | MCRSearch, unless moved | Magistrate or Circuit Clerk |
| Municipal offense | Town process | Bath or Paw Paw |
Verify Morgan County Sentencing Orders
For exact terms, ask the Circuit Clerk for the sentencing order. Give the case number, title, and entry date. A docket printout is not certified on its own. The office takes calls at 304-258-8554. Weekday hours run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The fee sheet lists plain copies at $1 per page. Payment is cash or money order for stated services. Personal checks are not accepted. Confirm the current cost and certification type first. You can also fax the office at 304-258-7319 or email melanie.shambaugh@courtswv.gov. Ask before sending sensitive data.
Morgan Criminal Access Fallbacks
Start with the clerks when the online docket search stalls. The Circuit Clerk sits in Room 302 and holds the Circuit records. Lower-court files belong to the Magistrate Clerk in Room 202. Call the courthouse main line at 304-258-8540 first. A public-access terminal may sit in the Magistrate Clerk's office. Access can change, though. Confirm by phone. Prefer mail? State the exact court and the case number. Include the date range and the document name. Say whether a plain or certified copy is required.
The Circuit Clerk posts email and fax contacts. No single electronic copy-request form covers every situation, though. Ask which method the office accepts and what identification to bring. Phone disclosure is limited for juvenile, mental-hygiene, guardianship, and certain domestic matters. Those limits are not portal errors. They reflect the access rules governing sensitive files.
When WVPASS will not load, check the Judiciary Court Record Access gateway for the official route. Then call the Morgan County clerk. Steer clear of third-party pages that skip the court level, the event history, or the source date.
Older Morgan County criminal files can demand a clerk-assisted search even when newer cases sit online. Give the clerk a full name. Add an approximate filing year, the court level, and any case code you know. A felony may open in Magistrate Court. It can later pick up a Circuit number after indictment or transfer, so hold onto both identifiers. The Magistrate Clerk confirms the lower-court history. The Circuit Clerk finds the later docket and any copies. This two-office check separates a missing result from a sealed, restricted, archived, or differently numbered record. Ask for the signed disposition or sentencing order when the official outcome matters. Keep the clerk's response date with the Morgan County record so later docket changes stay clear.
Public Access and Sealed Criminal Dockets
WVPASS leaves out sealed filings and juvenile cases. Court rules shield identifiers and confidential material too. A missing online hit does not prove no protected case exists. Going to the counter, phone, mail, fax, or a written request never turns sealed matter public.
Send a specific request to the clerk who holds the file. Name the court, the case number, the document, and the date. A custodian may provide copies, set an inspection time, or deny access in writing.
West Virginia Code ยง29B-1-3 sets the response route for a specific public-record request.
Trial Court Rule 10 governs court-record access and protected data.
Juvenile rules restrict public access to juvenile proceedings and records.
Ask only for the public portion. The originating clerk stays the source for an authoritative copy of any Morgan County criminal record.
Morgan County Criminal File Links
A Morgan felony can leave related entries in two court files. The Magistrate record may list the complaint, preliminary examination, bond events, and transfer. The Circuit docket carries the indictment, later settings, plea or trial, and final order. Write down both case numbers. Add the date the matter changed courts. That link lets each clerk confirm their own records. It also prevents mistaking one public index for the full history of the other court's work.
Municipal appeals need the same care. Keep the town citation identifier. Use the assigned Circuit appeal number for the Morgan County docket. The original lower-court record remains a separate source even after Circuit review begins.