Search Boone County Court Dockets

Boone County Court Docket Searches

Start with the court level before you touch a name search. Boone County Circuit Court and Family Court records that are public live in WVPASS. The statewide service holds circuit criminal and civil information going back to 1999. Registration costs nothing. Searching is free too. Document downloads run 25 cents per page plus a card-processing fee. For magistrate matters, use MCR instead. It holds magistrate civil and criminal claims, complaints, warrants, preliminary hearings, bonds, and many citations. It returns data only, never document images. A municipal ordinance case starts with the municipality itself. A federal case calls for PACER and the Southern District's Charleston Division.

A case number makes the best search key. Working from a name alone, enter both first and last name in MCR. Then check the county and case description on each possible match. MCR caps results at 30, so a common surname can bury the case you want. WVPASS uses a dynamic authenticated form. Follow the controls exactly as they appear on screen.

1. Decide whether the matter is at magistrate or circuit level.
2. Use MCR for a magistrate case, or register and sign in to WVPASS for a circuit case.
3. Enter the full case number when known; otherwise use the narrowest supported name search.
4. Open the matching Boone County entry and compare charges, events, and docket rows.
5. Ask the responsible clerk for a plain or certified copy if the portal does not supply the needed filing.

Routing Boone County Cases by Court Level

Where a Boone County matter lives depends on its court level. Circuit and family cases sit in WVPASS. Magistrate civil, criminal, and traffic records sit in MCR. For MFP you need an exact citation or payment identifier. Municipal ordinance cases begin with the town that handled them: Madison, Danville, Whitesville, or Sylvester. Federal matters go through PACER. Some Boone County court records take two searches. A felony that started in magistrate court can be one of them. It gets transferred to circuit later.

The detail may show a move to Circuit Court. Write down both case numbers. Take the newer number into WVPASS and compare the dates and court levels. Keep in mind that the phrase “Transferred to Circuit Court” marks a routing event only. It says nothing about guilt and it is not the final result. The full Boone County docket search workflow walks through name and number searches across both systems.

Court Dockets: What They Show

A Boone County docket does not blend a filing with what the court actually did. It keeps them apart. Civil dockets keep a strict order. Papers, service, orders, and judgments line up in the order they happened. MCR detail pages sort everything into labeled groups. Basic Case Information comes first, then Related Cases, charges, civil judgments, bond information, events, parties, and docket entries. Work through those groups in order and keep the court's own labels. One caution applies. A docket row can prove an item was entered. Yet it may not show the full filing behind it. It also does not settle the claims inside that filing.

Boone County Search Fields Across Three Portals

Each portal asks for something different. WVPASS makes you register first, and its search controls load dynamically. MCR takes a first name, last name, or case number, though it caps you at 30 results. MFP is the strictest. It demands an exact Citation ID, Case ID, or Payment Plan ID. Dashes must be included. The official MCR case-detail format shows how events, charges, judgments, bonds, parties, and docket entries are kept separate.

That page has a public layout. You can read entries field by field without the private party names. In the Boone County sample, each code marks a separate event in time. MFFCF is a felony complaint. MMWAR is a warrant issued. MBOND means bond or bail was set, while MBONI means it was posted. MGNCH is a notice of hearing, and MMOJR is an order for jail release.

Do not read more into a row than it says. A warrant-issued entry does not prove anyone was served or arrested. Bond set and bond posted are two different events. A stale bond row tells you nothing about present custody. “Hearing/Event Closed” closes the scheduled event, not always the case itself. A confusing docket entry is common. Ask the magistrate clerk. They can give you the public document or explain the label.

How Boone County Cases Move Between Courts

A Boone County criminal docket usually tells a story in order. You will see the filing first. Then comes an initial appearance or arraignment. Pretrial events follow. The end is a plea or trial with a disposition. Felony cases add extra steps. A magistrate may hold a preliminary examination before a circuit indictment comes later. Expect rows for motions, bond changes, notices, transport orders, and continuances too. Those entries fill out the docket without changing where the case lands.

Docket flow: Complaint or Charge › Initial Appearance › Preliminary Hearing or Arraignment › Pretrial Events › Plea or Trial › Disposition and Sentencing

Read forward to the latest dated entry, but also look for a later court number on the case. A single indictment or information can list more than one count against one defendant. So count rows are not separate people, and they are not separate convictions either.

Boone County Docket Terms Mark Different Facts

Labels matter when you read a docket. A charge is only an allegation. A plea is just a response to it. A disposition is the recorded result of a charge or case, while a sentence or a non-monetary condition may sit in a different section of the court records entirely. Boone County court records read badly when all those labels get merged into one claim.

When accuracy matters, quote the actual field and its date. A filing title does not prove an outcome. Treat a motion as granted only if an order or disposition in the docket confirms it.

Boone County Courts and Their Dockets

Boone County Magistrate Court handles warrants and misdemeanors. It covers traffic cases too. It also holds preliminary examinations in felony matters. Elizabeth Summers serves as its clerk. The magistrate office answers the public line at 304-369-7366. Search magistrate cases through MCR, or use an exact citation or payment identifier in MFP.

Boone County Circuit Court is the general-jurisdiction court of record for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, handling felonies, general civil work, and appeals. Boone Family Court covers divorce, paternity, custody, support, and related assignments. Samuel R. Burns is the Circuit Clerk, with the office at 200 State Street, Suite 202, Madison, WV 25130, and public telephone 304-369-7320. For municipal ordinance cases, check with the municipality itself. Federal cases belong to the Southern District of West Virginia, not either state portal.

Getting a Boone County Court File Copy

No document images appear on MCR. Once you locate a magistrate case, call or visit the clerk with the case ID, the item, and a date range. Circuit and family cases may offer a public nonsealed download through WVPASS. Otherwise, the circuit clerk can arrange inspection and copies. A municipal office keeps its own local record. PACER plus the federal clerk cover federal files.

Say up front whether you want a plain or certified copy. Get the fee before anything is reproduced. West Virginia Code §59-1-11 sets circuit-clerk fees, and magistrate copies follow separate administrative rules. An online download charge, a clerk copy charge, and criminal court costs are three different things. CourtPLUS serves registered e-filers in circuit and family court. It is no free stand-in for public docket search.

Docket Access Under West Virginia Law

Access is broad but has limits. West Virginia law lets anyone inspect court papers. Another law can close them. An access-limiting order under Trial Court Rule 10.03 must state its nature, duration, and reason. The same restrictions apply online: WVPASS publishes neither sealed filings nor juvenile matters.

A blank result does not mean no case existed. The record could fall outside the portal's date range, sit under another court number, or be confidential, sealed, expunged, or held only at the clerk's office. If access is limited, ask for the legal basis and whether a redacted public copy exists.

Restricted Boone County Dockets and Filings

Open access does not force wide republication. Criminal, civil, and family filings can hold child, victim, witness, medical, financial, or protected personal details. State law keeps juvenile files confidential, and sealed or expunged records carry their own limits. Use Boone County records to confirm a case event or follow court work. Copy only what is needed. Never chase restricted material through cached or mirror copies.

Aggregate numbers say nothing about one person. In 2025, Boone reported 111 circuit felony filings and 1,294 magistrate criminal filings. Those are filings, not convictions. The bigger magistrate figure reflects a different court level and case mix. A near-real-time dashboard tracks active, preliminary cases, so keep it apart from finalized annual totals. The 2025 annual report describes countywide workload only.

Court Dates and Settings in Boone County

MCR entries can show the event type. They list date, time, room, location, judge, and a reason closed. A closed event does not always mean the case ended. Circuit and family dates may surface in WVPASS entries and filed orders. A CourtPLUS filing timestamp is never a hearing time.

Under Rule 2.09, circuit terms begin on the third Monday of January, April, and September. Those term dates set no single case. Continuances, transfers, weather events, and closures happen. After any of them, confirm the latest setting with the clerk. The Boone County court schedule walks through the full date-check process.

Boone County Online Systems Have Different Jobs

The official Judiciary access page points to WVPASS and MCR separately rather than blending every Boone County record into one system.

That page lays out the choice by court level. WVPASS carries circuit and family information plus any available documents. MCR holds magistrate data but no images. MFP needs an exact Citation ID, Case ID, or Payment Plan ID. CourtPLUS handles e-filing. It is not a public search substitute.

How the Clerk Keeps Docket Records

Samuel R. Burns is the Circuit Clerk. He maintains circuit and family files. Elizabeth Summers is the Magistrate Clerk. She handles magistrate records and copies. Roger Toney, the County Clerk, keeps deeds, liens, probate, vital, and commission records. A recorded judgment is not the whole Circuit Court file.

Any request should name the court, the case number or date, the document, a narrow range, the format, and plain or certified copies. Ask the fee first. Confirm unverified mail, fax, email, dropbox, and terminal routes. Do this before sending money or identification.

Boone County Docket Fees Vary by Task

WVPASS registration and search cost nothing. Public downloads generally run 25 cents per page plus card processing. MCR posts no images, so papers come from the clerk. MFP states a $2 WV.gov price per payment. Filing fees, costs, portal charges, and certified copies are all separate transactions.

Open only the filing you need, confirm page count and certification, then pay. Keep the clerk's receipt with your Boone County record.

City-by-City Court Dockets in Boone County

Madison, Danville, Whitesville, and Sylvester are the four incorporated places in Boone County, according to the 2020 Census. Racine is only a census-designated place. Population hints at size, not at how many court dockets each town produces. Ordinance cases go through the municipality itself. State charges land in the Boone County court system.

Map and Directions to the Boone County Courthouse

Circuit Court files are kept at the Boone County Courthouse, 200 State Street, Madison, a three-story Indiana-limestone building on a hillside above State Street. The Circuit Clerk's office is Suite 202, and Magistrate Court is also reached at this address. Family Court is listed separately at 206 Court Street, Madison, so confirm the building before a family-case visit.

General courthouse hours are listed as Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., but that is a building reference, not a guaranteed clerk filing cutoff, so call ahead to confirm the counter's hours and any security screening before a visit. No official parking map or accessible-entrance guide was located for the courthouse.