Search Mason County Court Dockets

Mason County Court Docket Searches

Start a Mason County court docket search by picking the right court level. Then add the name. For public Circuit Court records, WVPASS is the tool. Public Magistrate Court cases run through the Magistrate Case Search, often called MCR. Family records can carry access limits. A call to the Circuit Clerk or Family Court first saves steps. A city ordinance matter may sit with the municipality rather than either state search.

Before you search, collect the court name, the party name, the case number, and any citation or payment-plan identifier. A name alone can pull up several people. It may match nobody if the spelling drifts. The exact case number usually cuts through all of that noise. A portal may go down or leave a record out. When that happens, call or visit the clerk who keeps the original file.

1. Read the notice or citation and identify the court named on it.
2. Choose WVPASS for Circuit Court or MCR for Magistrate Court.
3. Search by the exact case number when it is known, or use the available name fields.
4. Review the court, filing date, status, settings, and disposition without treating a result as a full history.
5. Confirm a court date or request a copy from the Mason County clerk who holds the case.

Mason County Search Layers

West Virginia splits its electronic access by court level. WVPASS covers the circuit courts. According to its launch materials, anyone can register for free and run a docket search across every county, with public circuit documents going back to 1999 where they exist. Downloads run 25 cents per page plus a nominal card fee. Fair warning: the official interface has been known to sit on a loading or error screen, so the local records counter in Mason County is a backup worth knowing about.

The magistrate layer is called MCR. The official MCR description explains that after a CAPTCHA you can search by first name, last name, or case number at no charge. Results cap at 30 and may list the filed date, the charge, the disposition, and the documents on file. The papers themselves are not online. For copies, go through the Magistrate Clerk.

Court Dockets: What They Show

Think of a Mason County court docket as an event log rather than a story. Entries record when a case was filed. They also note which court holds it and what kind of matter it is. Later entries note when a hearing is set and how the court recorded a result. The docket still is not the whole file. A document list can name a complaint, motion, order, return, or judgment. The public cannot always open that item online.

Context is everything. A charge is an allegation, not a ruling. A listed date is a scheduled event, not proof it happened. And a continuance only moves a hearing; it never dismisses the case.

Mason County Docket Terms

Two or three words in a docket entry can carry a lot of legal weight, so a Mason County docket should be read as a sequence rather than one code standing alone. When an abbreviation does not make sense, ask the clerk to show you the entry as it appears in the case file.

Setting

A scheduled hearing, arraignment, conference, trial, or review.

Continuance

An order moving a proceeding to a later date.

Disposition

The result recorded for a claim, charge, or case.

Docket entry

A dated event or filing added to the court record.

Sealed

Kept from ordinary public access by law or court order.

Note: A result is a pointer to the court record, not proof of a complete civil or criminal history.

Mason County Courts and Their Dockets

One courthouse in Mason County houses several distinct courts. The state judiciary's Mason County directory lays them out. Circuit Court sits at the top as the general-jurisdiction trial court of record. Magistrate Court works at a lower level. It takes minor criminal and civil matters, traffic cases, and preliminary steps in larger ones. Family Court covers divorce, custody, support, paternity, and related issues. Cities can also set up municipal courts for ordinance cases. Whether one exists must be checked town by town. That official page shows the local court map. It explains why a Mason County court docket request works best when you name both the case type and the office that keeps the record.

Whatever office is named on your notice is the one that holds the live docket and the underlying case documents.

Mason County Case Flow

Cases are not locked into one court. A felony may start with a preliminary examination before a Mason County magistrate. Then it moves up to Circuit Court. Appeals from lower state courts can open a fresh circuit proceeding on their own. Some civil and family appeals qualify for the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals instead. Criminal, juvenile, abuse-and-neglect, and other assigned matters may climb further. Some reach the Supreme Court of Appeals.

State docket flow: Municipal or Magistrate Court › Mason Circuit Court › West Virginia appellate court.

Treat that outline as a routing model, not a guarantee that every docket hits each stop. Federal claims travel a separate road. Mason County falls inside the Southern District of West Virginia's Huntington Division, and those federal dockets are searched through PACER, not through any Mason County state portal.

Court Dates and Settings in Mason County

Start with the docket, then confirm with the court. That is the safe habit for any Mason County court date. Circuit terms open on the first Tuesday in January, May, and September. Current statewide Trial Court Rule materials set that schedule. Those terms are broad blocks of court business. They are not a personal hearing calendar. Every case moves on its own filed order, notice, or setting.

The county website posts no daily public Mason trial calendar. Its calendar page covers County Commission events alone, not court settings. Check WVPASS or MCR first. Do this when the case is open to public search. Then call whichever office the notice names: Circuit Clerk, Magistrate Clerk, Family Court, or the municipality. The Mason County court schedule lays out the full route.

Mason County Calendar Trap

Here is the trap to avoid. The official Mason County calendar tracks County Commission business. It is not a trial docket. Treat it as a record of county government, never as a list of hearings. A blank day there tells you nothing about Circuit, Family, Magistrate, or municipal settings. Your case number and the court notice are far stronger keys.

Docket Access Under West Virginia Law

Mason County court records are open in most situations, though not without limits. West Virginia Code section 51-4-2 covers inspection and copies. Trial Court Rule 10.04 governs public access. The West Virginia Freedom of Information Act adds its own request framework. A statute or sealing order can still close a particular item. Access rules stack, in short, and the narrowest one can win.

Sometimes a public index stays up while a pleading is restricted. Other times the whole matter is absent. The clerk can explain a record's access status, but cannot give legal advice.

Mason County Restricted Records

WVPASS excludes juvenile cases and sealed filings. Domestic-relations law in West Virginia also shields certain pleadings, exhibits, financial records, and sensitive data. A missing public result does not prove no case exists. Your search terms may be off. The matter may sit in another court, the filing may not have posted yet, or access may be restricted.

Ask the right clerk. The clerk can tell you whether a public docket entry or order can be identified without touching confidential material. A sealed file may require a court order. Redaction strips protected details from an otherwise public item. Sealing closes off the item or case itself. Neither can be sidestepped through some other portal. Note: Public workload totals can include confidential categories without making names or filings public.

How the Clerk Keeps Docket Records

Elizabeth Jones serves as Mason County Circuit Clerk. Her office maintains Circuit and Family Court records. It runs a computerized docket, manages filing history and copies, and supports jury work. Visit at 200 Sixth Street, Suite 9, Point Pleasant, WV 25550. Hours are weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The records line is 304-675-4400 and fax is 304-675-7419.

The official Circuit Clerk page confirms those details. It also shows the records office within its courthouse setting.

One courthouse, several desks: circuit, family, magistrate, municipal, and federal files do not live in a single database.

Mason County Copy Requests

A good copy request names the court, case number, caption, document title, and date range. State clerk guidance allows inspection inside the office under supervision. Files stay put unless a court order or authorized handling permits removal. Staff may set reasonable limits on file counts, inspection method, or time. That keeps the records safe and the office running.

Fees are set by law. West Virginia Code section 59-1-11 lists $1 per copied page. It also lists $2 for certification under seal. WVPASS charges 25 cents per page for public downloads. MCR offers no online documents, so magistrate copies come straight from the clerk. Request a plain copy unless you truly need certification.

Mason County Digital Docket History

Mason County's Circuit Clerk describes computerized docketing and custody of Supreme Court computer records. CourtPLUS E-File went live for Mason Circuit and Family Courts on March 25, 2019. Attorneys, pro hac vice filers, government users, and other approved registrants file through it. It is not public docket search, and that distinction matters.

WVPASS became the public circuit search layer statewide in March 2025. MCR had already opened free magistrate case searching. So the roles split cleanly. CourtPLUS submits filings. WVPASS lets the public find eligible circuit records. MCR locates eligible magistrate records but stops short of delivering documents.

Digital flow: Authorized CourtPLUS filing › clerk-managed record › eligible WVPASS public access.

Mason County Docket Numbers

The 2025 judiciary report offers local context, not a name list. Mason County recorded 49 circuit criminal filings. Those broke down as 31 felonies, one magistrate appeal, 12 misdemeanors, and five other criminal matters. The cited table also reported 237 circuit civil filings and 430 magistrate civil filings. Small claims accounted for 243 reported magistrate filings.

Read these numbers as workload, not current calendar size. A filing total says nothing about how long a case ran. It also says nothing about how many settings it received or whether its file is public. Juvenile totals can appear in print even though juvenile case files stay confidential.

City-by-City Court Dockets in Mason County

Five city pages cover the top incorporated places in Mason County: Point Pleasant, New Haven, Mason, Hartford City town (locally called Hartford), and Henderson. The Census place table provides both the ranking and the 2020 vintage behind that list.

Hartford has an official source documenting a twice-monthly local court. The other places post no confirmed municipal docket portal, so check with the local office for the route. State cases still run through MCR, WVPASS, or the county clerk.

Map and Directions to the Mason County Courthouse

Circuit and Family Court files are kept at the Mason County Courthouse, 200 Sixth Street in Point Pleasant. The Circuit Clerk's office is at Suite 9 within that address, and the Magistrate Clerk works from the same courthouse. Adult probation is in Room 2 of the same building, while a separate county-government desk at the same address handles general courthouse routing.

The research located no published parking, security-screening, or accessibility policy for the courthouse, so calling the Circuit Clerk at 304-675-4400 before a visit is the safest way to confirm the suite, current hours, and any entry procedure.