Name-Based Case Searches
Boone County magistrate cases start at the official Magistrate Court Record Search, or MCR. A CAPTCHA screen comes first. Click to continue, then Submit. From there, the fields are first name, last name, and case number. Enter a full first and last name when a surname is common. The service caps results at 30 records. So a broad name query can bury the right match in a crowd of near-identical hits.
Circuit and family searches open in West Virginia Public Access to State Court Information. The system is known as WVPASS. Registration is free, and so is searching. The live form loads dynamically. The static official source does not confirm its exact filters. Treat any county, date, or case-type control as uncertain until you see it in the live account. Trust only the fields on screen.
- Identify whether the matter is circuit, family, magistrate, municipal, appellate, or federal.
- For MCR, pass the CAPTCHA and enter the last name plus the first name when known.
- Review each county and case description instead of selecting the first matching name.
- Record the case number, court level, and filing details before leaving the result.
- Contact the responsible clerk when a document or current event is not online.
| Field label | Type | Required | Boone search note |
|---|---|---|---|
| First name | Text | No | Documented for MCR; pair it with the last name. |
| Last name | Text | No | Broad searches may reach the 30-record limit. |
| Case number | Text | No | The best key when copied exactly. |
| CAPTCHA | Checkbox | Yes | Appears before the MCR search screen. |
Boone County Search Matrix
No single portal covers every Boone County court docket. The Judiciary’s record-access page sends users to WVPASS or MCR, while MFP handles a narrower job: exact magistrate citation, case, or payment-plan identifiers. Municipal ordinance cases stay with the municipality. Federal matters run through PACER for the Southern District of West Virginia.
| Case level | Search route | Best starting key |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit or family | WVPASS | Case number and Boone County |
| Magistrate | MCR | Case ID or full name |
| Citation or payment | MFP | Exact ID, including dashes |
| Municipal ordinance | Municipal clerk or recorder | Citation and issuing town |
| Federal | PACER/CM-ECF | Federal case number |
Keep the portal and the clerk distinct. The portal is only an access channel. Samuel R. Burns, Boone County Circuit Clerk, keeps the circuit and family records. For magistrate records and copies, magistrate clerk Elizabeth Summers is the local contact.
Case Number Searches
Boone County circuit numbers begin with county code 03. A civil circuit file might read CC-03-2020-C-82. Here "CC" means circuit court. "03" marks Boone, the next segment gives the filing year. "C" signals the civil series. The trailing digits are the sequence. Juvenile and abuse-and-neglect series can take a CC-03-YYYY-JA-## form. That format does not open a confidential case to the public.
Magistrate numbers follow another pattern, resembling 24-M03F-00055. A felony often starts with a bound-over number shaped like YY-B-###. It picks up a circuit F or M designation after indictment or information. Search MCR for the magistrate stage first, then WVPASS for the circuit stage. Federal numbers such as 2:26-cv-00554 belong to the Southern District. They cannot stand in for Boone state numbers.
Boone County MCR Limits
The 30-record cap makes a case ID worth having. A common-name query may fill the list without proving no other match exists. MCR can also flag a case transferred to circuit court. Treat that entry as a pointer to a new search, not a final ruling. Weigh Boone County context, case type, filing date, and event history together.
MCR is data only. It offers no online document images. For copies, call the Boone County Magistrate Court clerk at 304-369-7366. Or visit the Boone courthouse at 200 State Street in Madison. The administrative rules state a nominal 25-cent-per-page magistrate copying charge. Before ordering a large file, confirm the total and the accepted form of payment.
Note: A capped result set is a search limit. It is not a complete certificate that no further Boone County case exists.
Case Search Results Explained
A Boone County case detail page holds far more than the result row. MCR organizes it into sections. They include Basic Case Information, Related Cases, Case Charges, Non-Monetary Sentences, Civil Judgments, Bond Information, Case Event Schedule, Case Parties, and Docket Entry. Each answers a different question. Read the dated docket entries in order, and keep an allegation separate from its result.
| Case number | The court-level identifier used to retrieve and track the file. |
|---|---|
| Charge | An alleged offense, not proof of a conviction. |
| Plea | The recorded response, which may be guilty, no contest, or not guilty. |
| Event schedule | Date, time, room, location, judge, event type, and reason closed where populated. |
| Docket entry | A dated row with a local code, description, and filer. |
| Disposition | The recorded result or status of a charge or case. |
"Hearing/Event Closed" closes the event, not always the whole case. Bond set, bond posted, and bond released are three separate acts. An old bond row proves nothing about present custody. In the same way, a motion to dismiss or continue only shows a request; an order or later event shows whether it was granted.
Boone Docket Entry or Pleading
A docket entry is a short chronological row, like an index line. The pleading is the actual filed document behind that row. West Virginia Civil Rule 79 directs the clerk to record papers, process and service, orders, and judgments on the civil docket. The row can confirm a motion was filed. It may still omit the motion's full text or any signed ruling.
WVPASS offers public circuit and family case information plus nonsealed documents. Public criminal and civil coverage reaches back to 1999 under the launch notice. Downloads generally cost 25 cents per page plus a card-processing charge. Check a file's description and page count before opening something long. For an official copy, ask the circuit clerk. Do not treat a downloaded index row as the whole record.
The official circuit-clerk fee statute explains why a search result and a clerk-made copy are different products.
Those statutory entries give Boone County searchers a primary source on copy charges. Checking them before asking the clerk for a quote saves a step.
Two Boone County Search Layers
County versus statewide is not two copies of one database. The real comparison is statewide web access against the local clerk. That clerk keeps the source record. WVPASS and MCR each add a statewide search layer by court tier. Boone County clerks, in turn, provide copies, answer record-location questions, and apply access rules.
| State portal | Boone County clerk |
|---|---|
| Searches participating cases within its court tier | Maintains the local source file for that court |
| Useful for names, numbers, and public docket data | Useful for copies, certification, and missing documents |
| May impose login, CAPTCHA, result, or download limits | Can explain the request process and quoted fee |
| Excludes sealed and confidential material | Must apply statutes, rules, and sealing orders |
Circuit and family case records sit with the circuit clerk. Call 304-369-7320 or come to Suite 202, 200 State Street, Madison. Not every request moves by mail, fax, or email. Phone the office before sending money or personal identification. The Boone County court case records page walks through the full copy process.
No Boone County Search Result
An empty screen proves nothing about whether a case existed. Retype the name and check punctuation. Try the full case number and the right court level. A magistrate matter can move up to circuit court. Municipal cases may never surface in MCR or WVPASS. Older paper files may need a clerk to pull them. Sealed, expunged, juvenile, and other confidential files stay hidden by design.
- Repeat the query with the exact case ID and all dashes.
- Switch between MCR and WVPASS when the case changed court levels.
- Contact the issuing municipality for an ordinance matter.
- Call the proper Boone County clerk with the approximate date and document type.
- Ask whether a redacted public copy is available if access is limited.
A cached file or a third-party site is not a way around a lawful seal. If access is denied, ask the clerk for the legal basis and any review procedure.
Boone County Code 03
County code 03 is a small marker with real value. It shows up in Boone County circuit case numbers. It also appears in lower-court references on appellate filings. When an Intermediate Court of Appeals decision cites a lower case such as CC-03-2015-C-7, that little segment ties the appeal back to the Boone circuit record.
The code alone says nothing about court tier. Read it together with the CC prefix, the year, the series letter, and the sequence number. M03 inside a magistrate number follows a different scheme. Keep the whole number intact. A circuit search then never gets tangled with MCR or a federal docket.
Which Cases Stay Restricted
West Virginia limits public access in specific ways. Trial Court Rule 10.03 demands an order. The order must state the restriction's nature, duration, and reason. Rule 15A.26 keeps sealed and confidential papers out of ordinary electronic view. Juvenile files live apart under West Virginia Code §§49-5-103 and 49-5-104. Identities stay closed by default. Law or a court order can allow access.
Expungement statutes §§61-11-25 and 61-11-26 bar inspection once an order enters. A missing portal result is never proof of innocence, guilt, or a clean record. Public access does not license republishing Social Security numbers. Nor does it cover financial-account data, medical facts, victim details, protected witness information, or children's identities.
Access point: West Virginia Code §51-4-2 makes court records open to inspection unless another law provides otherwise. The responsible Boone County clerk applies that rule to each request.