West Virginia Criminal Records

In West Virginia, criminal records are papers documenting every encounter a person has with law enforcement that ends in an arrest or criminal charges. Criminal records in West Virginia contain details about a person's crimes, judgments, punishments, and jail terms.

Per West Virginia's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), these records are available to the public in this state. Each state and local criminal justice agency has its system for maintaining and accessing criminal records. However, the West Virginia State Police (WV SP) is this state's central keeper of criminal records.

More specifically, West Virginia Criminal Records contain the following information:

• Subject's personal information (name, date of birth, gender, and race)
• Any aliases
• Fingerprints
• Photograph
• Driver license number
• Physical descriptions
• Current and previous addresses
• Arrest history
• Current and previous warrants

Someone who violated the laws in West Virginia will have a criminal record. And the information on a criminal record differs depending on the offenses they commit. Most of the time, a person guilty of a crime will have the following on their criminal history:

Felonies

Unlike many states, West Virginia does not divide felony records for sentencing purposes. Instead, for each felony record in this state, the laws spell out the possible sentences.

The following are some examples of felony records in West Virginia:

Malicious Assault

This crime is a felony in West Virginia, with a minimum punishment of two years and a maximum sentence of no more than ten years.

First-degree Robbery

In West Virginia, this crime is a felony if it involves violence or the danger of violence. Those who commit this crime will get a minimum sentence of ten years.

Second-degree Robbery

If someone commits this crime, they will get at least five years in prison and, at most, 18 years in prison. This crime is a felony if it entails putting the victim in fear of danger or utilizing anything like a stun gun to disable the victim.

A felony record in West Virginia will remain on your criminal history unless expunged. To qualify for expungement, you must wait five years after your sentence.

Misdemeanor

West Virginia is different from most other states because it does not divide misdemeanor records into different groups for sentencing purposes. Instead, the law for each crime states the maximum and sometimes minimum punishment.

Most of the time, judges can decide if the person should go to jail, pay a fine, or both.

Here are some examples of West Virginia misdemeanor records and the possible punishments:

Harassment That Violates a Court Order

People who do this will get 90 days up to a year in prison and a fine between $2,000 and $5,000.

Petit Larceny

You could spend one year in prison and pay up to $2,500 in fines for this misdemeanor.

First-offense Shoplifting

This misdemeanor comes with a $250 fine if the goods are worth $500 or less. But if the goods were worth more than $500, the penalty is a $100 to $500 fine, 60 days in jail, and a mandatory fine to the store.

Battery

If someone does this, they could go to jail for up to a year and pay a $500 fine.

How long does a misdemeanor appear on your criminal record in West Virginia? A misdemeanor conviction stays on your record for life unless you qualify and petition for the state expungement. To be eligible for expungement in this state, you must wait a year after your conviction.

Criminal Driving Violations

Like other states, West Virginia divides its criminal driving violation records into felony traffic violations (the most severe) and traffic misdemeanors (the less significant).

Felony Traffic Violations

West Virginia felony traffic violations are significant felonies that result in confinement in state prisons for at least a year and a fine. Because felonies are the most severe criminal traffic violation records in this state, they usually carry harsher penalties.

In West Virginia, an individual is guilty of a felony traffic violation if they commit the following offenses:

• Impaired driving causes death
• Drunk driving causes serious bodily injury to a person

Traffic Misdemeanors

Traffic misdemeanors in West Virginia are crimes with up to a year in jail or a fine. Some examples of offenses under this category are:

• Driving under the influence (DUI)
• Allowing an impaired person to drive
• Reckless driving

In West Virginia, a record of a criminal driving violation will follow you for the rest of your life. In most cases, the state lets people get their criminal records removed. However, the law does not permit the expungement of violation records for DUI with alcohol or a controlled substance.

Sexual Offenses

West Virginia penalized statutory rapes under the state's sexual abuse and sexual assault legislation. In this state, statutory rape involves consensual sex between a child under 16 and an offender who is four years older than the child.

West Virginia, like other states, categorizes statutory rapes into different categories that define the seriousness of the crime and its related consequences.

Here are some examples of statutory rapes and their possible punishments in West Virginia:

First-degree Sexual Assault

This sexual crime is a felony in West Virginia. The person who does this offense could go to prison for at least 35 years, must pay a minimum of $5,000 fine, or both. It includes sexual contact between a defendant at least 14 and a child under 12.

Third-degree Sexual Assault

This sexual crime is also a felony in West Virginia. It has a punishment of 1 to 5 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. It happens when an offender who is 16 years old or older has sexual contact with a child under the age of 15.

First-degree Sexual Abuse

If the offender is at least 14 years old and commits sexual contact with a victim under 12, they will face 1 to 5 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. If the defendant was 18 or older, the penalty increased to at least 5 to 25 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Third-degree Sexual Abuse

This kind of sexual crime is a misdemeanor with 90 days in jail, a fine of $500, or both. It happens when someone over 16 has sexual contact with someone under 16.

Anyone convicted of a sexual offense in West Virginia must register as a sex offender for ten years or life, depending on the circumstances of their conviction.

An interested individual who wishes to know the registered offenders in West Virginia can look on the WV SP website using the state's Sex Offender Registry program in various ways.

On this website, interested parties may search using last name, online name, street name, email address, municipality, or city. They can also sort search results based on whether a person registered is considered wanted or sexually violent.

West Virginia, like other states, allows for the expungement of adult criminal records. In this state, the expungement process removes a person's criminal history and returns them to their status before the infraction.

However, the process of expungement in West Virginia is challenging. Whether you can remove a crime from your record depends on the nature, outcome, and date.

Who Is Eligible for Expungement in West Virginia?

As previously noted, the law governing the expungement procedure in West Virginia is complex. In this state, each situation is different, and there are other expungement laws with additional requirements.

The rules of expungement in this state differ based on whether you want to remove criminal charges or criminal convictions.

In West Virginia, you may qualify to remove criminal charges if:

• You have dropped accusations as part of a plea deal.
• You have no prior felony convictions.
• You are not facing any criminal charges.
• You have done your 60 days waiting period.

For criminal convictions, you may qualify for expungement in West Virginia if:

• Your conviction is a misdemeanor or a nonviolent crime.
• West Virginia law does not preclude your conviction from being expunged.
• No charges are pending against you.
• One to five years have passed since your last conviction, release from prison, or fulfillment of parole or probation.

Expungement Process in West Virginia

If you qualify, the procedure you need to take in West Virginia to apply for expungement is as follows:

• Contact the WV SP Criminal Identification Bureau (CIB) to obtain a copy of your criminal history.
• Fill out the form for expungement.
• Gather any supporting documents, including court records and program or educational certifications.
• Pay the fee for the document from the court.
• Copy everything, including a set for yourself.
• Send your petition for expungement and any supporting documents to the court clerk in the county where you were guilty.
• Submit another petition to the state police superintendent, prosecutor, police chief, prison, and court.
• Pay $200 for the petition to have a conviction removed.
• Wait for the court decision within 60 days on whether to grant your petition, plan a hearing, or reject it because it isn't complete or you don't qualify.

Inmate records in West Virginia are official information regarding people in correctional institutions' possession.

The West Virginia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WV DOC) is in charge of all correctional facilities and institutions in the state. It also gives the public information about inmates excluded by law or other rules.

Interested parties can visit the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority (WV RJA) to get these records. Requesters must know the inmate's full name or identification number on this website to complete their search.

In West Virginia, inmate records include the following details:

• Inmate's personal information (name, date of birth, and gender)
• Any aliases
• Booking photo
• DOC ID
• Weight and height
• Date of imprisonment
• Date of the expected release
• Placed in charge
• Sentence summary

Arrest records in West Virginia are files and information law enforcement agencies keep about arrested individuals in the state. These records contain information about the crime for which the individual was a suspect, guilty, or charged.

In this state, a court issues an arrest warrant, which gives a police officer permission to take someone into custody. However, police in West Virginia can also make arrests without a warrant if the suspect has committed a crime or violated the West Virginia Criminal Code in the sight of a law enforcement official.

After an arrest in West Virginia, the officer will take the person into custody for the booking process. During this step, the booking officer will collect the offender's personal information, fingerprints, and a booking photo.

Each West Virginia police station or sheriff's office makes and keeps records of arrests. However, the WV RJA is the central repository for public arrest records and provides an online platform where interested parties can look for free arrest records.

Alternatively, interested parties can conduct an arrest records search at their local police station or sheriff's office.

In West Virginia, arrest records have the following information:

• Arrestee's personal information (name, age, gender, race)
• Any aliases
• Booking photo
• Fingerprints
• Physical descriptions
• Criminal charges
• Arrest time and date
• Location of the detention center
• The current status of the case

Most people who want to see criminal records in West Virginia are employers who are doing background checks. However, someone looking for a business associate, advocates for a nonprofit organization, or household staff, such as a babysitter, also obtained criminal records in this state.

In this state, there are numerous methods for obtaining criminal records. The first is through the WV SP, which lets people search online or in person. Individuals interested in these records may also get them from the WV DOC, which offers criminal records at a low cost.

Alternatively, individuals can check for West Virginia Criminal Records through their local county sheriff's offices or by contacting courthouses for on-demand court documents.