Getting Preston County Court Records
Start online if the case is public. Through WVPASS or Magistrate Case Record Search, you can pull up the case number. You can also see how each document is labeled in the Preston County court docket. Each tool does a different job. WVPASS lets you download public circuit court records. The magistrate search shows case information along with event and document references. For actual copies of magistrate filings, the local clerk is the one to ask.
- Write down the court, case number, document title, and filing or order date.
- Choose the custodian: Circuit Clerk for circuit and Family Court files, Magistrate Clerk for magistrate files, or municipal clerk for a city case.
- Call to confirm that the document is available and ask whether a plain or certified copy is needed.
- Ask about the current fee, payment method, mailing or in-person route, and expected timing.
- For a written request, describe the Preston County court record with reasonable specificity and state the preferred format.
- Compare the copy’s caption, case number, judge, date, and certification mark with the request.
Visit the office that holds the file you need. The Circuit Clerk works out of Room 301 in the Preston County Courthouse. For magistrate matters, go to Room 201. Public terminals there run under the judiciary's magistrate access program. Preston County offers no official court-record request form and no court-specific email route. Call first and confirm a mail or electronic method before you send anything.
Three Preston County Record Layers
Think of Preston County court records in three layers: the docket, the filed document, and the certified copy. Each one serves a different need, and mixing them up means you may request the wrong thing or end up with a copy an office refuses to accept.
| Record layer | What it provides | Best Preston County source |
|---|---|---|
| Docket or case register | A chronological index of filings, hearings, orders, and outcomes | WVPASS, Magistrate Case Record Search, or the proper clerk |
| Filed document | The complaint, petition, motion, order, judgment, exhibit, transcript, or proof of service | WVPASS when public and downloadable, otherwise the custodian |
| Certified copy | A clerk-authenticated copy for official use | The Preston County clerk who holds the original file |
A picture you save from a search result is not a certified copy. The docket shows that an order was filed. The order itself holds the court's language. Check with the receiving office about which layer it needs before you pay for copies.
Preston County Court Record Types
Two clerks split the Preston County court docket. Knowing which one holds your case saves a trip. The Circuit Clerk keeps circuit civil and criminal files, appeals that come up from lower courts, and juvenile or abuse-and-neglect records that stay restricted. That office also runs the Family Court index and order channel. Downstairs, the Magistrate Clerk handles another slice of the court records. That slice covers misdemeanors, felony preliminary stages, civil cases under the limit, small claims, emergency protective orders, and traffic ticket matters.
- Docket sheets and electronic registers of actions
- Complaints, petitions, answers, motions, and proofs of service
- Hearing notices, orders, judgments, and appeal entries
- Public Family Court orders and indices
- Magistrate charges, bonds, event schedules, and dispositions
- Transcripts, when available through the court reporter or official court channel
Don't confuse the Preston County Clerk with either court office. That separate office at the courthouse annex holds county commission, fiduciary, probate, and land records. Its Document Inquiry system is a land and probate tool, not a circuit or magistrate docket system.
Preston County Room 301 Records
Lisa Leishman serves as Preston County Circuit Clerk. She is named on both the official county site and the judiciary's pages. Her office sits at 101 West Main Street, Room or Suite 301, Kingwood, WV 26537. Reach the main line at 304-329-0047; the fax number is 304-329-1417. Call before you drive over. The court posts no single hours schedule or certified-copy cutoff. A quick phone call to the clerk avoids a wasted trip to Room 301. The official Preston County court roster lists the judges, the clerks, their rooms, and every court contact in one place.
Use that roster to send your request to the right desk. Circuit and Family Court files belong upstairs with the Circuit Clerk. Magistrate records live in Room 201, while county land and probate records stay at the annex.
Inside a Preston County Court Record
What lands inside a Preston County court record? Identity fields come first. The record then tracks everything that happens in the case. The blocks you see will differ with the court and the type of docket. For the fullest public field inventory, look at the magistrate court interface.
| Case header | Case ID, court and location, description, filing date, type, trial type, claim or amount, appearance date, and agency. |
|---|---|
| Parties | Public party roles, names where open, and an end date when a party leaves the case. |
| Charges or cause | Charge number, citation, offense date, statute, description, plea, disposition, and due date. |
| Events | Type, date and time, room, location, judge, and reason closed in the Case Event Schedule. |
| Bond | Bond type, amount, status, payor, receipt, and set or posted dates. |
| Documents and result | Filed public documents, orders, judgment, plea, appeal, transfer, or post-judgment entry. |
Some material may be redacted or blocked from public view entirely. When you need the exact ruling, read the docket entry against the filed order itself.
Preston County WVPASS Downloads
WVPASS went live on March 10, 2025, opening public circuit court records back to 1999. Searching costs nothing, and so does registration. To download a document, a regular public user pays 25 cents per page. A small card-processing charge applies on top. Counsel of record gets a break: downloads in their own cases are free.
A download is not automatically certified. Request clerk authentication when an agency, court, or other recipient requires an official Preston County copy.
Older case records are another matter. Files from before 1999 may sit in books, on paper, on microfilm, in storage, or as scans inside the court's internal systems. That is where the Circuit Clerk has to go look. CourtPLUS and Vault handle case management and scanned-paper storage for the court. Neither is a public docket search route. Ask the clerk which form of the older record you can view or copy.
Fees and Certified Copies
West Virginia law fixes some of the fees for Preston County court records. The clerk posts no local schedule for certification, exemplification, mail, or turnaround costs, so confirm those figures before you place an order. One caution on WVPASS: the charge you see there is not the clerk's certification fee.
| Item | Located amount | Rule or note |
|---|---|---|
| WVPASS public document download | $0.25 per page plus card-processing fee | Search and registration are free |
| Circuit Clerk copy or paper leaving the office | $1 per page | W. Va. Code §59-1-11(b)(2); confirm application to the request |
| Abstract of judgment | $5 | Separate statutory service |
| Magistrate copy | Nominal statutory fee | No single current amount stated in the official release |
| FOIA reproduction | Reasonable actual cost | No search or retrieval labor fee under the cited provision |
| Certification or exemplification | Not located | Ask the clerk for the current amount and method |
An abstract of judgment is a summary the clerk prepares after judgment, and it is not the judgment itself. Exemplified copies add another layer of authentication. Preston County publishes no fee for that service.
Preston County Family Court Records
Preston County Family Court records come in two tiers. Under Family Court Rule 6, the orders and the indices are public. Pleadings, exhibits, recordings, transcripts, and other documents stay confidential. The hearings themselves are closed. Who gets in? Parties, counsel, guardians ad litem, authorized designees, and persons with standing. So does anyone who obtains a court order. The rule defines access. A WVPASS result that looks public does not open the whole Family Court file. Ask the Circuit Clerk which document is public and what authority the rest would require.
Sealed Records and Public Access
W. Va. Code §51-4-2 opens court records and papers to inspection and requires copies unless a specific restriction applies. Trial Court Rule 10.04 sends a request to the court or clerk that retains the record, with reasonable access during usual business hours. West Virginia FOIA adds one more step: the request to the custodian must be reasonably specific.
Important limits: sealed filings, juvenile records, confidential Family Court material, protected domestic-violence records, and personal identifiers may be withheld or redacted.
Trial Court Rule 10.03 lets a judge limit a civil file through an order that states the scope, reason, and duration, subject to review.
W. Va. Code §29B-1-3 sets the clock. The office holding the record gets five days, not counting weekends or holidays, to respond. Within that window it must produce the record, schedule an inspection, or deny the request in writing, unless a different statute governs.
Preston County Record Custodian Map
Aim each request at the office that truly keeps the Preston County record you want. Send it to the wrong clerk and you may lose days waiting. One office also cannot certify a file that belongs to another court, so the address on the envelope matters.
Circuit and Family Court
Preston County Circuit Clerk, Lisa Leishman
101 West Main Street, Room 301
Kingwood, WV 26537
304-329-0047
Magistrate Court
Preston County Magistrate Clerk
101 West Main Street, Room 201
Kingwood, WV 26537
304-329-2762 ext. 3508 or 3507
County Records
Preston County Clerk
106 West Main Street, Suite 103
Kingwood, WV 26537
304-329-0070
Transcripts are a different animal. The clerk does not hold them; they usually come from the official court reporter or a court channel instead, and Preston County posts no reporter contact or fee schedule. For a city case, ask the municipal clerk. Track the case down first with the Preston County case lookup, then ask the right custodian for the document by name.