How to Search Putnam County Criminal Dockets
Identify the court on the complaint, bond paper, or order before searching. The MCR Search covers Putnam County Magistrate Court cases, while WVPASS is the public route for Circuit Court records. City ordinance cases remain with the municipal court unless appealed.
MCR searches by first name, last name, or case number and limits results to 30. WVPASS uses party name, case number, and other filters after free registration. For a missing or uncertain result, call Circuit Clerk Stephanie M. Smith at 304-586-0203 or Magistrate Court Clerk Darry Casto at 304-586-0234 or 304-586-0270.
- Read the court name and full case identifier on the latest paper.
- Open MCR for magistrate court or WVPASS for Circuit Court.
- Compare location, filing date, charge, and event schedule.
- Read plea, disposition, bond, and sentence blocks separately.
- Ask the proper clerk to confirm a date or supply an official copy.
Putnam Criminal Case Detail in MCR
MCR separates the case header from charge, event, bond, sentence, party, and docket-entry blocks. An appearance date does not replace the event schedule, and a bond amount does not state the outcome. The detail may show agency, plea, disposition magistrate, trial type, room, location, judge, and reason an event closed.
Documents are not posted in MCR. The judiciary also warns that the public view is not a complete or necessarily accurate history. Use it to locate a Putnam County criminal docket, then ask the Magistrate Court Clerk for the complaint, order, judgment, or certified disposition.
The official MCR case-detail layout displays the public field groups.
The blank layout shows why charge, event, bond, and disposition data must be read as separate parts of the record.
What a Putnam Criminal Docket Shows
A Putnam County criminal docket uses case information and dated register entries to show what the court has done. Each field answers a different question, so a charge, event, and final order should not be collapsed into one summary.
| Case ID | Identifies the court, year, type, and sequence, with formats such as YY-M##F-#####. |
|---|---|
| Charge | Shows the cited charge, conduct date, plea, and disposition fields when public. |
| Event schedule | Lists event type, date and time, room, location, judge, and reason closed. |
| Docket entry | Provides filing date, system code, description, and filer. |
| Bond and sentence | Uses separate blocks that do not substitute for the final judgment. |
Putnam Criminal Docket Codes
The Putnam Circuit Clerk case-type list uses B for a felony bound over from Magistrate Court, M for misdemeanor, F for felony, and M-AP for a criminal appeal from Magistrate Court. MCR event codes are also short index labels, not legal conclusions.
- MMFCF
- Misdemeanor complaint.
- MMOJO
- Criminal judgment or order.
- MGMRF
- Motion.
- MMPGN
- Guilty or no-contest plea.
- MMOFJ
- Final jail commitment order.
Open the dated description and obtain the filed paper when its wording controls. A code alone cannot show every term in an order.
Stages on a Putnam Criminal Docket
A case may begin in Magistrate Court with a warrant, misdemeanor complaint, or felony preliminary proceeding. A felony that advances to Circuit Court gains a circuit record. The history may therefore cross two portals instead of forming one continuous online file.
Docket flow: Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Not every matter uses every stage. A reset can add event rows, and a closed hearing does not prove the whole case ended. Read events in date order and confirm the final result in the signed judgment.
Bond Is Not a Putnam Disposition
MCR may show bond type, amount set, reduced amount, posted total, status, and receipt data. Those fields concern release security and payment activity. They do not say whether a charge was dismissed, resolved by plea, or tried. The plea and disposition fields, followed by the signed judgment, answer that different question.
Read separately: Bond, charge, hearing, and judgment blocks can appear together, but each records a different part of the Putnam County criminal docket.
For proof of outcome, request the judgment or certified disposition from the clerk rather than relying on a bond screen or receipt.
Which Putnam Court Holds Criminal Dockets
Circuit Court handles felonies, certain misdemeanors, and appeals from magistrate and municipal courts. Magistrate Court handles warrants, misdemeanors, and felony preliminary work. Municipal courts retain city ordinance and local traffic cases. Federal charges use the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and PACER.
| Court | Criminal work | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Putnam Circuit Court | Felonies and appeals | WVPASS and Circuit Clerk |
| Putnam Magistrate Court | Warrants, misdemeanors, preliminary matters | MCR and Magistrate Clerk |
| Municipal court | City offenses | Issuing city |
A blank result in one portal may mean that another court holds the docket.
Putnam Criminal Filings in 2025
The judiciary's 2025 report lists 190 new Putnam circuit criminal filings: 128 felonies, 9 magistrate appeals, 2 misdemeanors, and 51 other criminal matters. The 2024 report listed 237 under that year's categories. These totals show workload, not convictions, people, hearings, or pending inventory.
The year-to-year movement does not explain why filings changed or how long any one docket remained active. The prior report listed 140 felony filings, 10 magistrate appeals, 2 misdemeanors, and 85 other criminal filings for Putnam County. Category counts describe court volume, but they cannot identify a case or its present status. A filing is not a conviction, sentence, or hearing. Those answers remain in the individual Putnam County criminal docket and the court's signed orders.
The court level controls where an individual record can be found. A misdemeanor or felony preliminary proceeding may first appear in MCR because Magistrate Court handled the early stage. A felony bound over to Circuit Court can then appear under the Circuit Clerk's B case-type label and in WVPASS. A magistrate appeal may use M-AP. A searcher following the same matter should retain the original case number, court location, and transfer or appeal date. Similar charge wording does not prove that two results concern the same case.
The statewide 2025 circuit criminal total was 11,022 filings. That provides state context, not a measure of how quickly Putnam County handled a case. The annual tables count new filings in named categories. They do not report all open dockets, people involved, settings held, or time to disposition. For a live case, use the event schedule, docket-entry dates, disposition block, signed orders, and clerk confirmation.
Putnam Criminal Docket Versus File
A criminal docket is the dated register of activity. The underlying file contains the complaint, motions, orders, judgment, commitment paper, and other documents entered on that register. WVPASS may offer a public document for $0.25 per page, while MCR offers case detail without online document images. Neither route turns a download or screen into a certified court record.
Ask the Putnam County Circuit Clerk for circuit documents and the Magistrate Court Clerk for magistrate documents. State the case number, paper sought, and whether a plain or certified copy is required. A closed event or final judgment does not make a sealed exhibit or protected personal information public.
Public Access to Putnam Criminal Dockets
West Virginia generally permits inspection of court papers, subject to statutes, rules, and sealing orders. Juvenile, sealed, confidential, and expunged material can be hidden. No result may also mean the wrong court, a recent filing, a municipal or federal case, or an older paper record.
Key Rules:
West Virginia Code § 51-4-2 permits inspection and copies of court papers subject to lawful limits.
West Virginia Trial Court Rules address access, privacy, sealing, and e-filing.
West Virginia Code § 61-11-26 governs criminal expungement.
WVPASS case browsing is free, but public documents cost $0.25 per page plus processing and are not certified. MCR posts no document images. Ask the proper Putnam clerk for a certified judgment or for help with a record that cannot be resolved online.