Berkeley County Court Docket Searches
Berkeley County splits its docket searches across a few doors. There is no single portal for every court. WVPASS covers public Circuit Court cases and the documents it makes available. MCR handles Magistrate Court case information. City ordinance and traffic questions go straight to the Martinsburg Municipal Court. Bring a case number when you can. A name, filing year, court type, citation number, or rough hearing date also works.
Pick the court before touching a search form. Felony trials and major civil cases sit in Circuit Court. Magistrate Court takes misdemeanors, much traffic work, preliminary felony steps, and civil claims within its authority. Family Court keeps its own docket, but the Circuit Clerk holds those records. A city ordinance citation can stay in Martinsburg Municipal Court.
- Identify the court from the citation, summons, notice, or case number.
- Open WVPASS for Circuit Court or MCR for Magistrate Court. Contact Martinsburg Municipal Court for a city matter.
- Search by exact case number or use the name with county, type, status, and date filters.
- Read the header, dated entries, hearings, and disposition. Later entries can replace earlier settings.
- Ask the correct clerk for a filed document, plain copy, or certified copy.
Two Berkeley County Docket Portals
The circuit branch runs through the WVPASS public system. Its Name, Case, and Attorney routes let you filter by Berkeley County, case type, status, year, number, and date. Searching and registration are free. Public document downloads cost 25 cents per page plus a card-processing fee, and sealed or juvenile material stays excluded. Its launch announcement says public circuit documents reach back to 1999.
The lower-court branch is the Magistrate Case Record Search. An acknowledgement and a challenge screen come first. After that it accepts name or case-number searches and returns no more than 30 records. Results can include location, number, type, filing date, charge or amount, disposition, hearings, and document descriptions. The documents themselves generally come from the Magistrate Clerk.
| Portal | Berkeley County docket | Main limit |
|---|---|---|
| WVPASS | Circuit civil and criminal cases; public documents | Restricted matters omitted; downloads charged |
| MCR | Magistrate civil, criminal, and traffic information | Thirty-result cap; images not promised |
| Municipal court contact | Martinsburg ordinance and traffic cases | No public online docket found |
Court Dockets: What They Show
A Berkeley County court docket is a chronological index. It is not the whole case file. The header names the court, location, case number, case type, filing date, status, and judge or magistrate. Party and attorney fields show who is involved. Below that, the register lists accepted filings, notices, motions, orders, hearings, and later events in date order.
Money fields depend on the case. A civil result may carry a judgment sum, costs, interest, or payments. A criminal result may show an assessed fine, costs, or restitution information. When a short result label and a filed document seem to clash, the signed order controls.
| Case number | The unique court identifier in the exact format printed by the court. |
|---|---|
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, prosecutor, or counsel where public. |
| Docket entries | Dated lines for filings, service, motions, notices, orders, and other acts. |
| Hearing settings | Date, time, location, judge, type, and status when recorded. |
| Disposition | Dismissal, judgment, plea, conviction, acquittal, or other outcome. |
| Financials | Costs, fines, judgment amount, interest, payment, or balance as applicable. |
Read Berkeley County Entries in Order
Read the header first. Then work through the register from the oldest event to the newest. A motion entry is only a request, never a ruling. Look for the later signed order that decides it. A notice of hearing announces a setting. But a later continuance or cancellation can replace it. And "event closed" describes one hearing event, not the end of the whole case.
- Docket or register of actions
- The dated index of filings, events, and rulings.
- Continuance or reset
- A move to another court date, not a dismissal.
- Disposition
- The recorded outcome of the case or charge.
- Certified copy
- A clerk-authenticated reproduction of an official record.
- MGNCH
- An MCR sample code for notice of hearing.
- MGFJ
- An MCR sample code for final judgment.
These samples are not a complete official Berkeley County codebook. When an abbreviation in an entry is unclear, ask the filing clerk at the counter.
Berkeley County Courts and Their Dockets
Berkeley County and Morgan County make up West Virginia's 27th Judicial Circuit. Circuit Court serves as the general-jurisdiction trial court of record. Berkeley and Jefferson Counties form the 24th Family Court Circuit. Magistrate Court is the state's lower court. Martinsburg adds a Municipal Court for city matters. Appeals and transfers can leave entries in both an originating docket and a receiving docket. The Berkeley County court-system overview from the county lays out the local court levels:
This layout keeps a magistrate complaint from being confused with the later Circuit Court felony docket.
| Court | Docket covers | Where to search |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Circuit Court | Felonies, major civil matters, lower-court appeals | WVPASS and Circuit Clerk |
| Berkeley Family Court | Divorce, custody, support, and paternity | Circuit Clerk; limited public orders and index |
| Berkeley Magistrate Court | Misdemeanors, traffic, preliminary felony steps, civil cases | MCR and Magistrate Clerk |
| Martinsburg Municipal Court | City ordinances and traffic infractions | Court counter and telephone |
Berkeley County Dockets at the Center
Every major court function sits under one roof. The Berkeley County Judicial Center at 380 West South Street in Martinsburg houses Circuit, Family, Magistrate, Adult Drug, and Juvenile Drug Court functions. The Circuit Clerk works out of Suite 2200. Call 304-267-5000 for the main line. The Circuit Clerk line is 304-264-1918, or 304-264-1957 for the Magistrate Clerk. The official Judicial Center visit page covers public access, security, parking, and court departments:
The online Berkeley County docket pairs with the clerk counters and the free public terminals inside the building. Visitors pass an x-ray and metal detector on the way in. Portable electronics, phones and laptops included, are on the county's prohibited list. Check the current rules before arrival. For accessibility or hearing assistance, contact the Chief Court Marshal in advance.
Court Dates and Settings in Berkeley County
Berkeley County posts no stable countywide calendar search. Court dates appear in a WVPASS or MCR hearing block. You can also find them on a citation or summons, from the clerk, or on a current courthouse calendar. Write down the date, time, courtroom, judge, setting type, and event status. Then read every entry filed after it.
A continuance moves a setting and does not end the case. A later notice, order, reset, cancellation, or closed-event entry can change what an earlier line means. Confirm the latest setting before you travel. Martinsburg municipal dates start with the citation and the city court's session information. The Berkeley County court schedule lays out the full date-check workflow.
The clerk publishes no weekly Berkeley County docket PDF and no permanent remote-hearing link. Check with the courthouse for anything beyond the portals.
Berkeley County Docket Technology
Berkeley County's electronic access grew in stages. Circuit and family e-filing went live in 2017. CourtPLUS became the statewide system in 2024, and its E-File Vault holds scans and electronic filings for registered users and staff. Self-represented filers still file on paper, and sealed documents must be paper-filed too. CourtPLUS is not an anonymous public docket search.
Public MCR magistrate searches launched statewide in 2024. WVPASS circuit access followed in 2025. In 2026, the judiciary announced a near-real-time data dashboard and awarded work for an integrated lower-court management system. Those steps modernize the courts, but they do not prove a new Berkeley County portal or daily calendar is live. The Circuit Clerk's official access page shows the terminal and WVPASS routes.
That clerk route remains vital for older, omitted, or restricted Berkeley County records.
Docket Access Under West Virginia Law
Docket access starts with the clerk. Trial Court Rule 10.04 generally opens court records during business hours. That holds unless a rule, statute, seal, or other limit applies. West Virginia FOIA presumes public access to state and county records as well. Its exemptions still apply. A FOIA request cannot unlock a sealed file. Online searching helps, but the clerk's own file remains the authoritative record.
Key Rules:
Trial Court Rule 10.04 gives the general court-record access framework and directs requests to the custodian.
West Virginia Code §29B-1-4 states the FOIA presumption and exemptions for public records.
Family Court Rule 6 keeps family pleadings and similar content confidential while orders and indices remain public.
West Virginia Code §49-5-103 restricts juvenile court records to authorized access.
Trial Court Rule 15A adds another layer, requiring protection of personal identifiers in electronic filings. Public access never means every page appears online unredacted.
Why Berkeley County Results Disappear
A blank docket search result does not mean no case exists. It may be filed in another court. The case could also be older than the portal's practical coverage. Or it was entered under a different name, municipal, sealed, juvenile, expunged, or protected by family rules. WVPASS omits sealed filings and juvenile matters. MCR warns that its results may be incomplete. It says they should be validated with the filing clerk.
Search the exact case number first. Remove an overly narrow filter. Try the other court level, and check an alternate spelling before giving up. If nothing appears, ask the proper clerk what access procedure applies. An eligible expungement order can seal or remove the record. Authorized family parties may need photo identification or notarized authorization for remote divorce information.
How the Clerk Keeps Docket Records
Two clerk offices split the Berkeley County workload. The Circuit Clerk keeps Berkeley Circuit and Family Court records, receiving and preserving pleadings, issuing process, recording court action, and providing public terminals. The Magistrate Clerk separately maintains Berkeley Magistrate Court records. The County Clerk handles county administration and other county records, not the state trial-court docket.
Find the case and its filing date online first. Then state the exact item needed, because a plain copy, certified copy, transcript, and docket sheet are different products. Circuit plain photocopies run one dollar per page. The published schedule lists no distinct certified-copy fee or turnaround time. Call before mailing payment. MCR users should contact the Magistrate Clerk for documents the search only lists.
Berkeley County Circuit Clerk
Berkeley County Judicial Center, Suite 2200
380 W. South St., Martinsburg, WV 25401
304-264-1918
Three Berkeley County Record Layers
Three record layers serve different needs. The docket is the index, showing when a paper was filed or a setting occurred. The filed document supplies the actual motion, pleading, or order. A certified copy adds the clerk's authentication. It serves when a recipient requires proof of the official record.
WVPASS can provide a public circuit image for a fee. MCR may list a magistrate document without offering its image. Neither counts as certified. Older cases may sit in paper, bound books, microfilm, or scanned archives. That can be true even when the online search comes back empty.
| Layer | What it provides | Berkeley County route |
|---|---|---|
| Docket | Chronological case index | WVPASS, MCR, or clerk terminal |
| Filed document | The text behind an entry | WVPASS download or clerk request |
| Certified copy | Clerk-authenticated record | Ask the correct clerk for fee and process |
Berkeley County Dockets Keep Growing
Berkeley County's court record stretches across centuries. The first county courthouse was completed in 1779. A later courthouse built in 1856 survived major changes and a 1922 fire. In 2024, the last County Clerk divisions left the historic West King Street site after about 245 years of daily county service. Older docket references may therefore point to buildings that no longer host current state-court access.
The county's 2024-25 report notes change too. The former jail on South Raleigh Street was renovated as a judicial annex in 2025 to add courtroom space. Berkeley and Morgan also became the 27th Judicial Circuit at the start of 2025. Annual filing totals are not published there. The physical expansion remains the sounder local fact.
Berkeley County Treatment Docket Entries
Berkeley Adult Drug Court and Juvenile Drug Court run through the regular court structure. They meet at the Judicial Center. They are programs, not separate public courts, so no standalone search portal exists. Start with the underlying Circuit, Family, or Magistrate case.
A public docket may show referral, review, compliance, graduation, violation, or disposition entries. Treatment assessments stay restricted. So do protected participant details. For a public circuit matter, search the underlying case in WVPASS. Then ask the Circuit Clerk which entries are public. The judiciary offers no standalone Berkeley veterans, mental-health, or reentry court portal.
City-by-City Court Dockets in Berkeley County
Two incorporated places appear in the 2020 Census table for Berkeley County: Martinsburg and Hedgesville. Martinsburg runs a Municipal Court for city ordinances and traffic infractions. Hedgesville has no separate municipal court. Town and judiciary sources post no Hedgesville docket portal. So state-court questions from Hedgesville begin with the relevant Berkeley County court. Town ordinance questions should go to the town itself.
Inwood and Falling Waters are census-designated places, not incorporated municipalities. They get no separate city-court routes.
Martinsburg Court Records
18,777 people in the 2020 Census · Municipal Court handles city ordinance and traffic cases.
Hedgesville Court Records
300 people in the 2020 Census · No separate official municipal docket was located.
Map and Directions to the Berkeley County Judicial Center
Circuit, Family, and Magistrate Court records are kept at the Berkeley County Judicial Center, 380 West South Street, Martinsburg, a consolidated complex that also houses the Adult and Juvenile Drug Courts, probation, the Prosecuting Attorney, and the Chief Court Marshal. The Circuit Clerk's counter is in Suite 2200; the Magistrate Clerk is elsewhere in the same building.
Berkeley County Judicial Center
380 W. South St., Suite 2200
Martinsburg, WV 25401
304-264-1918
Free parking is available at 380 West South, 324 South Raleigh, 400 South Raleigh, and 510 South Raleigh; an EPTA bus stop sits near South Raleigh and West South. Entry requires passing an x-ray and metal detector, and portable electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and smartwatches are listed among prohibited items, so leave them in the car unless staff give a current exception.