Mason County Civil Docket Searches
For a public Mason Circuit Court case, start with WVPASS, the statewide system that reaches back to 1999. Signing up costs nothing. Searching costs nothing. Public downloads run 25 cents per page plus a small card-processing charge. One caution: the public screen can hang or throw errors, so treat any field layout you see as unofficial until the page loads properly.
For a lower-value civil or small-claims matter, use Magistrate Case Search, called MCR. After a CAPTCHA, you can search by first and last name or case number. It caps results at 30 and shows no documents. A sensible approach:
- Choose circuit, family, or magistrate court from the case type.
- Search WVPASS or MCR with the exact case number when known.
- Compare the filed date, court, case category, parties, and status.
- Read later service, setting, motion, order, and judgment entries.
- Ask the correct Mason clerk for inspection or a named copy.
Mason County offers no separate civil-only docket portal. The county Document Inquiry route returns a 403 error, so do not count on it as a working court search unless the clerk confirms otherwise.
Mason Civil Filing Mix
How busy is the Mason civil docket? The 2025 West Virginia annual report recorded 237 civil filings in Mason Circuit Court. That row breaks down piece by piece. It holds 103 general civil cases, 42 adoptions, 9 guardianships, 1 magistrate appeal, 57 mental-health matters, and 25 other civil cases. Adoptions and guardianships sit in those counts too. So a civil docket covers far more than lawsuits over money.
Remember what these numbers are. They count filings for the report year, nothing more. They say nothing about people, public files, open cases, or outcomes. Several categories also carry strict confidentiality limits.
Civil Dockets: What They Show
A Mason County civil docket is a dated index of entries. It may show a caption and each procedural step while keeping most pleadings and exhibits out of view. Read the entries in order. One line alone is never a final result.
| Case number and style | The identifier and public caption, subject to privacy rules. |
|---|---|
| Case category | General civil, adoption, guardianship, domestic relations, appeal, or another class. |
| Complaint or petition | The paper that starts the civil matter. |
| Service or return | Whether process was delivered, attempted, or returned. |
| Motion and order | A request and the court's later ruling, often on separate dates. |
| Setting | A status, motion, pretrial, mediation, or trial event. |
| Judgment or final order | The recorded resolution or final procedural action. |
| Appeal | The notice and movement to an appellate record. |
Copy the case number. It is the safest key for any docket search. A document list is not the document text, and a scheduled hearing is not proof it will still happen.
Mason Service Entries Matter
Service is the formal delivery of court process or notice. On a Mason County civil docket, you may see issuance, attempted service, a return, or proof that service was completed. Those entries often explain why a response or setting has not moved yet. They do not decide on their own whether service met the law.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition › Summons and service › Answer or response › Motions and discovery › Setting › Trial or resolution › Judgment › Enforcement or appeal.
A return of service reports how delivery was made or attempted. When the docket label is vague, look at the return itself and any later order. The Circuit Clerk can supply an open copy. Legal advice about its effect, though, is outside the clerk's role.
What Cases Fill the Civil Docket
Mason Circuit Court takes the broad civil matters. These include equity cases, higher-value claims, qualifying appeals, and specialized petitions. Magistrates handle limited civil and small-claims disputes. Family Court covers divorce, custody, support, paternity, and related domestic cases. Which court you pick shapes both the search route and the access rule.
| Mason court | Examples | Public route |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | General civil, equity, guardianship, appeals | WVPASS and Circuit Clerk |
| Magistrate Court | Small claims and limited civil cases | MCR, public terminal, Magistrate Clerk |
| Family Court | Divorce, support, custody, paternity | Circuit/family clerk route with privacy limits |
How high can a magistrate civil claim go? The current judiciary magistrate page shows a $20,000 civil limit. Other official jury material says $10,000. With primary sources in conflict, ask the Mason Magistrate Clerk for the current threshold before you file anything new.
Mason Small-Claims Docket Volume
Small claims keep the Mason magistrate docket busy. The 2025 report listed 243 small-claims filings. The same civil table counted 76 personal-safety filings, 109 domestic-violence emergency protective-order filings, and 2 temporary emergency protective orders, for 430 civil filings in all. Those totals measure workload. They are not a list of public cases.
Choose the court before searching. A lower-value dispute may be in MCR, while a circuit civil case belongs in WVPASS. Sensitive protective-order content may be restricted even when a procedural entry is visible.
Cannot find your small claim online? The Magistrate Clerk's office has a public terminal. You can also call 304-675-6840, stop at the counter, or mail a narrow copy request. Whatever route you take, the clerk validates the official record.
Hearings on the Civil Docket
A Mason County civil setting can take many forms. It might cover status, discovery, mediation, a motion, pretrial work, trial, or another court event. When public, the entry names the date, time, court, and event type. A judge or room may appear too. A term date, though, is not an individual hearing date.
Some entries change things. A continuance moves a proceeding by court action. A reset changes the date, time, or place. A cancellation removes an event but does not close the case. Read the motion, the signed order, and the newest docket entry together. Then call the clerk to ask whether the setting still stands. For more on how dates work, see the Mason County Court Schedule.
Electronic filing and videoconference rules do not make remote appearance automatic. The case order and local instructions control how a party must appear.
Mason Civil Fees by Request
West Virginia Code section 59-1-11 sets out several Circuit Clerk charges. Check the current amount and any exception before mailing money. Service, format, certification, and the age of the case can all shift the total.
| Item | Researched amount |
|---|---|
| Civil action base filing | $200 statutory base, subject to allocations and exceptions |
| Additional defendant in a non-family civil action | $15 |
| Paper copy made by clerk to leave office | $1 per page |
| Subpoena | 50 cents |
| Suggestion or service item | $25 |
| Case more than three years old | $20 per year where applicable |
Inspecting the file first helps you pick only the pages you need. Ask which copy types exist, whether plain, certified, electronic, or from an older file, and request a fee estimate.
Who Can See Civil Dockets
Access to a Mason County civil docket starts with state law. Section 51-4-2 lets the public inspect court records and requires clerks to provide copies. Trial Court Rule 10.04 covers electronic access too. It builds in controls for privacy, security, and keeping the system running smoothly.
The official West Virginia trial-rule source lays out the full text of the rules. Those rules govern civil docket access in Mason County.
Those rules pair openness with privacy protections. A docket index can list a case event while the underlying filing stays protected from view.
Mason Family Privacy Boundary
Family cases get special treatment. West Virginia Code section 48-1-303 keeps domestic-relations pleadings, exhibits, and similar documents confidential. Orders are handled differently. Juvenile, adoption, guardianship, mental-hygiene, protective-order, sealed, and redacted material may carry its own limits. A document can be missing for many reasons. That alone does not mean the Mason County civil case never existed.
The Mason Circuit Clerk holds the files. The office sits at 200 Sixth Street, Suite 9, Point Pleasant, WV 25550. It takes calls at 304-675-4400 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can call to ask where a case is routed. You can also inspect an open file under supervision or mail a specific request. An oral or written request also works under the West Virginia FOIA. FOIA cannot override a confidentiality law or a sealing order, though.
Whatever route you choose, be specific. Give the case number and the exact document. Include the date range, the format you want, and how to reach you. The clerk does not have to create a new record. The clerk also need not do legal research or summarize the file. A tightly scoped copy request is the fastest and cheapest way to go.