Logan County Court Record Requests
Know which office holds the paper before you ask for a copy. Mark McGrew is the Logan County Circuit Clerk. He keeps the Circuit and Family Court dockets. His office also holds pleadings, orders, exhibits held by the clerk, and related case funds. Michelle L. Copley, the Magistrate Court Clerk, holds the Magistrate Court files. The County Clerk does not serve as the state-court docket clerk.
- Run a Logan County Docket Search in WVPASS or MCRSearch and copy the exact case number.
- List each docket date or document needed and state whether inspection, a plain copy, or a certified copy is required.
- Choose the correct channel: online public document, courthouse terminal, clerk counter, phone, mail, or clerk-approved fax.
- Ask for the page count, copy cost, certification charge if any, postage, and accepted payment method.
- For a record not online, send a reasonably specific written request to the actual custodian and retain a copy.
For public Circuit documents, WVPASS is one route. MCRSearch covers Magistrate case information but not the filed papers. For certified copies, older records, and access questions, the clerk is still the source.
Two Logan County Record Custodians
The local twist is the split clerk structure. The Judiciary's Logan County directory lists both offices at 300 Stratton Street, Logan, WV 25601.
Logan County Circuit Clerk
Room 311, 300 Stratton Street
Logan, WV 25601
304-792-8550
Logan County Magistrate Clerk
300 Stratton Street
Logan, WV 25601
304-792-8651 or 304-792-8650
Circuit lobby terminals are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m. The Magistrate clerk offices also have public terminals with statewide search access. Call ahead, since same-day copies are not promised.
Kinds of Court Records
A docket is just the index. The papers behind it may answer a different question, so request the narrowest useful set.
- Docket or register entries showing filings, notices, settings, orders, and disposition.
- Complaints, petitions, answers, motions, responses, and service papers.
- Signed orders, judgments, and qualifying public domestic-relations orders.
- Public criminal, civil, family, or Magistrate case documents held by the proper clerk.
- Documentary exhibits in clerk custody, subject to a court order or access restriction.
- Duplicate recordings where available; a transcript follows a separate court-reporter process.
The clerk's forms shelf holds divorce, parenting, contempt, modification, support-allocation, financial-waiver, mental-health, and expungement packets. They help with filings. They are not a certified-copy request system, and some linked PDFs are just image scans.
Logan County Online Record Limits
The official Magistrate search explanation makes the document limit clear.
MCRSearch is free and needs no account. A name or case-number search can return up to 30 cases. The filed documents are not online, so use the case number, filing date, charge, disposition, and document indicators from the result to make a focused request to the Logan Magistrate Clerk. WVPASS works differently. After free registration, it offers public Circuit records back to 1999 and document downloads for 25 cents per page plus card processing. Sealed and juvenile files stay excluded.
Court Records: What They Contain
A full file can tie a docket entry to the paper that caused it. What you can get depends on the case and access law.
| Case Number | The court's identifier; copy all prefixes and punctuation. |
|---|---|
| Case Header | Court, county, style, type, created date, judge, status, and security level where recorded. |
| Pleadings | Initiating papers, answers, motions, responses, and related filings. |
| Orders & Judgments | Signed court rulings and formal outcomes. |
| Docket Sheet | The chronological list of entries, dates, codes, and filers. |
| Events | Hearings with date, time, room, location, judge, and status where shown. |
| Exhibits | Admitted documentary items in clerk custody unless the court directs otherwise. |
A transcript is the word-for-word record of a proceeding. Request it through the reporter or court channel. Logan's published page states no transcript rate.
Inspect Logan County Records First
Inspecting first can cut costs on a large file. The Logan Circuit Clerk site posts its public-terminal notice and office hours.
At the terminal, write down the exact docket dates and paper titles you need. Then ask for only those pages. The clerk can tell you whether the source sits in the electronic Vault, a paper jacket, a closed file, or archive storage. No Logan source gives an archive retrieval fee or retention schedule, so get a quote. Paper files cannot leave clerk custody without court authority. An exhibit may also need the judge's direction.
Copy Fees and Certification
A plain copy just reproduces the record. A certified copy adds clerk authentication for a recipient that demands official proof. An online view or PDF is not automatically certified. Logan's public fee page lists no separate certification surcharge, so ask the custodian for the current total.
| Record or service | Published amount or status |
|---|---|
| WVPASS public download | $0.25 per page plus nominal card processing |
| Logan Circuit paper copy | $1.00 per page |
| Logan Magistrate paper copy | $0.25 per page under Administrative Rule 11 |
| Duplicate recording or CD | $5.00 |
| Circuit Clerk abstract | $5.00 |
| Certified-copy surcharge | Not located in official Logan sources; request a quote |
| Archive or transcript fee | Not located; ask the responsible office |
The local Circuit Clerk fee schedule warns that fees may change.
Confirm page count, certification, delivery, and payment before sending funds.
A Logan County Written Request
No dedicated online certified-copy form or standard public copy-request email exists here. A written request should be specific. The custodian should find the file without guessing. List the court, Logan County, exact case number, case style, document title or docket date, date range, plain or certified copy, format, delivery method, and your contact details. The Circuit Clerk fax is 304-792-8589. The Magistrate Clerk fax is 304-752-0790. Fax only after the office confirms it will take the request and explains payment. Never send original papers or sensitive data without instructions. Under W. Va. Code §29B-1-3, the custodian must answer a reasonably specific request by furnishing the record, scheduling inspection, or denying it in writing within five non-weekend, non-holiday days unless another law applies.
Access Rules for Court Records
West Virginia law starts from openness and then applies limits. W. Va. Code §51-4-2 opens court records to inspection. It also requires clerk-furnished copies unless a restriction applies. Trial Court Rule 10.04 treats clerk records as public records for requests. Rule 15A.26 requires public access to nonsealed, nonconfidential electronic docket material in an E-File case.
Key access boundaries:
W. Va. Code §49-5-103 generally keeps juvenile proceeding records from public access.
W. Va. Code §48-1-303 protects domestic-relations pleadings and exhibits, although qualifying orders are public.
Sealed filings and protected victim information require the authorized route or a court order.
A public docket does not make every paper behind it public. Ask what proof or motion is required rather than hunting protected content through a public search.
Logan County Record Technology
One filing system now anchors record-keeping at the Logan County courthouse. Logan adopted Circuit and Family CourtPLUS E-File on June 1, 2019. It handles case management and electronic filing for the court docket. Vault is a companion piece. Clerks scan paper documents into its digital repository. Neither tool serves as a public name-search service for Logan County court records. Self-represented parties keep paper-filing with the Circuit Clerk, and any document proposed for sealing follows the paper process too. The official CourtPLUS overview lays out how e-filing works and what public information it does not expose.
A single Logan County case can exist in five forms: the paper original, a Vault scan, a WVPASS public copy, a docket entry, and a clerk-certified copy. Access and legal weight differ from one version to the next.