Searching Cases by Name
The name form is flexible. MCR takes a last or company name up to 60 characters. It adds optional first and middle names up to 15 characters each. Pick Hampshire under Court Location. Add filing dates, case type, or party role to trim the list. You must supply a Case ID, citation number, or last/company name. The system returns no more than 30 records.
- Choose MCR for a Magistrate matter or WVPASS for a public Circuit matter.
- Enter the most exact known spelling of the name.
- Select Hampshire and add a filing-date range and case type.
- Use the relevant party role rather than accepting a broad default when known.
- Compare each result's Case ID, court, date, and type before opening it.
Two helpers widen the match. MCR offers Name Sounds Like plus a Partial Name/Case ID/Citation option that is checked by default. Loose matching rescues odd spellings. It can also pull in false matches.
Hampshire Name Search Controls
The party menu goes well beyond plaintiff and defendant. Attorneys, judicial officers, law enforcement, probation, prosecutors, witnesses, sureties, and agencies all appear as choices. The menu defaults to Defendant/Respondent. Change it when your search targets another role.
| Field | Use |
|---|---|
| Last or Company Name | Required when no case or citation ID is supplied |
| First and Middle Name | Narrow similar results |
| Party Type | Limit results by the person's recorded role |
| Name Sounds Like | Broaden spelling matches |
| Filing Dates | Limit when the case began, not hearing dates |
| Court Location | Select Hampshire |
Never trust a name alone. Record the Case ID, and when identity or current status matters, verify the file with the Hampshire County clerk.
Searching by Case Number
An exact number beats every other search key. MCR names it the Case ID and caps the field at 15 characters. WVPASS offers an “Enter case number” route for Circuit cases instead. No single Hampshire number mask exists. So never guess spaces, dashes, or prefixes. Copy it from the court notice, citation, or pleading. Keep the punctuation intact. If MCR returns nothing, confirm the number truly belongs to Magistrate Court and that Hampshire is selected. A notice naming Circuit Court points you to WVPASS. A later appeal may carry a new Circuit number tied back to the original Magistrate file.
Hampshire's Four Search Lanes
Subject matter decides where a case lives. Circuit Court takes felonies, larger civil matters, Magistrate appeals and removals, and other general-jurisdiction cases. Family Court covers domestic relations, while Magistrate Court handles many citations, misdemeanors, preliminary felony events, small claims, detinue, unlawful detainer, and emergency matters. Municipal courts handle town ordinance cases where applicable.
| Lane | Public Search | Record Keeper |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | WVPASS | Hampshire Circuit Clerk |
| Family Court | Limited public index/order access | Hampshire Circuit Clerk |
| Magistrate Court | MCR | Hampshire Magistrate Clerk |
| Municipal court | No local portal found | Town municipal clerk |
Deeds, wills, probate, vital records, elections, and county instruments belong to the separate Hampshire County Clerk. That office cannot replace a trial-court case search.
What a Case Search Returns
The MCR detail view splits facts between the case level and each claim or charge. One charge's visible disposition may not describe the whole case. Read the full layout. Save the date you checked.
| Basic Case Information | Case ID, location, description or style, filing date, type, and trial type. |
|---|---|
| People and Roles | Parties and their recorded party types, subject to restrictions. |
| Calendar | Appearance Date and hearing-related detail. |
| Claims or Charges | Amount, citation, statute, agency, plea, or related allegation fields. |
| Outcome | Disposition and date, magistrate, and related cases. |
WVPASS can open public Circuit documents. Still, a docket line or index entry is not necessarily the complete pleading, order, evidence file, or transcript.
Hampshire Case Type Filters
The Case Type menu in MCR is deep. It spans Citation, Civil, Felony, Misdemeanor, DUI, Detinue, Unlawful Detainer, Worthless Check, Extradition/Fugitive, Animal Seizure, and reporting-code categories. Choose a precise filter. That keeps a common name from filling the 30-result cap.
- Detinue
- A civil claim seeking return of personal property.
- Unlawful detainer
- A civil action about possession of real property.
- Case type
- The court's category, not a finding of liability or guilt.
- Filing date
- When the case began or paper was accepted, not the hearing date.
- Related case
- Another court file linked in the system.
Begin narrow. Widen one field at a time. That discipline makes it obvious why each result appeared.
Statewide vs County Case Search
West Virginia's public search layer is statewide, but county and court still decide which records match. WVPASS is the public Circuit document system. MCR is the Magistrate index. For verification and copies, Hampshire's clerks remain the local sources.
| Feature | WVPASS | MCR |
|---|---|---|
| Court level | Circuit Court | Magistrate Court |
| Cost to search | Free after registration | Free, no registration fee |
| Documents | Public downloads at 25 cents per page plus card fee | No documents online |
| Date reach | Public Circuit files dating to 1999 | Portal index as available |
| Local fallback | Circuit Clerk | Magistrate Clerk and public terminal |
The official Court Record Access hub keeps the two systems clearly separate. Search both only when the case truly spans levels. A Magistrate appeal is one example.
Hampshire Results Missing a Document
An index can confirm that an order, judgment, citation, or pleading exists without showing it. MCR never displays the documents behind its results. Ask or visit the Magistrate Clerk for any available copy. WVPASS does offer public Circuit downloads. However, restricted, older, sealed, or paper material may still need the Circuit Clerk.
Ask for one item: Give the clerk the case number, court, filing date, and exact document name. State whether a plain or certified copy is needed.
The Circuit Clerk sits in the Hampshire County Judicial Center, 50 South High Street, Suite 157, Romney, at 304-822-5022. The Magistrate Clerk occupies Suite 3, at 304-822-4311. There is one more fallback. The public terminal serves as an official Magistrate option.
Access and Restricted Cases
Public access stops at hard lines. WVPASS leaves out sealed and juvenile records. Hampshire's clerk treats adoption, juvenile, and mental-hygiene matters as nonpublic. Family Court Rule 6 opens orders and indices to the public while keeping pleadings, exhibits, recordings, transcripts, and much sensitive material confidential. West Virginia Code §§49-5-103 and 49-5-104 require separate confidential juvenile records. Rule 15A governs sealing and protected identifiers in electronic filings. Expungement under §61-11-26 can change whether an older result stays public. Never read a “no result” as proof. A proceeding may still have occurred.
Hampshire Search Verification Steps
Keep a short log of each search. Record the portal and the exact query. Note your Hampshire filter, the date checked, and the Case ID. Add the case type and any visible disposition. A log earns its keep when one name returns several records. It also helps when the portal goes down. Or it can track an appeal that issues a new case number.
- Confirm the court and county.
- Compare the case ID and filing date.
- Separate Appearance Date from disposition date.
- Check later docket entries and related cases.
- Ask the correct clerk to confirm current status or supply the needed paper.
WVPASS runs on the client side, so a loading screen or an error message can appear instead of the Hampshire County record you want. MCR adds its own friction, sometimes pausing a docket search with a continuation step or a CAPTCHA gate. Neither quirk changes the clerk's official record; the portal and the clerk's office, not a third-party index, are still the right places to turn.
Hampshire Search Result Cross-Checks
Names rarely match perfectly in a Hampshire County docket search. A company may show up under its legal name instead of its trade name. A person's middle name may be missing. Change one detail at a time. Hold Hampshire, the likely court, and the case type fixed. That way you can tell which variation made the difference. Before you treat two similar case records as one file, compare the filing date and the party role on each docket entry.
Suppose a search result clashes with a court notice. Keep the result anyway. Then call the right clerk for the court docket in question. Staff can confirm the current register. They can point you to an available document and walk you through the copy process. What they cannot do is give legal advice. Nor can they predict what the court will do next.