How to Search the Mercer County Court Docket
Start by knowing which court holds the file, since one Mercer County database does not exist for everything. Most public Circuit Court and Family Court case information lives in the West Virginia Public Access Search System (WVPASS). Magistrate cases run through MCRSearch instead. Town and city courts keep their own municipal ordinance records. Federal matters sit in PACER. The court's name matters more than where an event happened.
Bring a full case number if you can. Without one, search the party's full name with an approximate filing date, the court level, and Mercer as the county. Common names pull in unrelated cases. Compare the county, case type, dates, and parties before trusting any match in a Mercer County court docket.
- Read the notice, citation, or case number and identify Circuit, Family, Magistrate, municipal, or federal court.
- Choose WVPASS for Circuit matters or MCRSearch for Magistrate matters; contact the named municipality for an ordinance case.
- Search by the exact case number first, or by name with county and date filters when the number is unavailable.
- Compare parties, filing date, case type, status, docket entries, and the latest hearing information.
- Ask the proper clerk for a plain or certified copy when an online record is incomplete or must be official.
WVPASS and MCRSearch Serve Different Courts
WVPASS holds publicly available Circuit Court cases filed from July 1, 1999 forward. Registration costs nothing. Browsing case detail is free. Viewing or downloading a public document runs $0.25 per page. The copy is not certified. Each case detail may include parties, attorneys, docket entries, documents, payments, hearings, and motions.
MCRSearch is the free locator for Magistrate Court records. Type in a first name, last name, or case number. It returns no more than 30 records and shows no document images. For a complaint, citation, warrant, order, disposition, or payment record, contact Magistrate Clerk Karmin Richmond. Treat neither system as a full criminal-history search.
What a Court Docket Shows
Think of an electronic docket as an index with a timeline, not the whole file. Every entry marks what was filed or scheduled, and when. WVPASS may attach a document you can purchase. MCRSearch may tell you a document exists. It offers no image. Read the newest entry alongside the case status. An old scheduled date may have been replaced by a later order.
| Case Number | The court's unique identifier, best copied exactly from a notice; a federal number may resemble 2:26-cv-00000. |
|---|---|
| Parties | Named plaintiffs, defendants, petitioners, respondents, or accused persons, depending on case type. |
| Docket Entries / Filings | Dated descriptions of complaints, motions, returns of service, notices, orders, judgments, and other activity. |
| Hearing Settings | The date, time, hearing type, and sometimes judge or location; later entries can reset an earlier setting. |
| Court & Judge | The court level and judicial officer assigned to the matter. |
| Disposition | The recorded result, such as dismissal, judgment, plea, conviction, sentence, or transfer. |
Fields That Narrow a Mercer Search
A tight query prevents common-name collisions and accidental document purchases. In WVPASS you can search by name, case number, attorney, county, case type, case status, created or filing dates, and participant class. Set both ends of a date range. MCRSearch gives you fewer inputs, so compare results carefully.
| Starting Detail | Best Route | Verification |
|---|---|---|
| Exact case number | Enter it in the portal matching the court level. | Match court, county, year, and party. |
| Party name | Use Mercer and date/status filters in WVPASS. | Compare multiple identifiers, not name alone. |
| Traffic citation | Read the issuing court; try MCRSearch or that municipal court. | Confirm citation number and hearing date. |
| No online result | Try the other court level, then the municipal and clerk routes. | Ask the custodian to validate the case. |
Which Courts Keep Dockets
Mercer County sits in West Virginia's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. The Circuit Court is the general-jurisdiction court of record. Family Court, Magistrate Court, municipal courts, and the federal Bluefield Division all keep records separately, so a docket search aimed at the wrong clerk just wastes time.
| Court | Docket Covers | Where to Search |
|---|---|---|
| Mercer Circuit Court | Felonies, larger civil cases, equity, writs, habeas matters, and appeals from lower courts | WVPASS and Circuit Clerk Julie Ball |
| Twelfth Family Court Circuit | Divorce, custody, support, paternity, name changes, and related domestic matters | Circuit Clerk, subject to Family Court confidentiality |
| Mercer Magistrate Court | Misdemeanors, preliminary felony work, warrants, traffic, small civil claims, bonds, fines, and costs | MCRSearch and Magistrate Clerk Karmin Richmond |
| Municipal courts | City and town ordinance violations | Bluefield, Princeton, Athens, Bramwell, or Matoaka local custodian |
| U.S. District Court, Bluefield Division | Federal cases from Mercer, McDowell, and Monroe counties | PACER and the federal clerk |
CourtPLUS, the Vault, and the Public Counter
Behind the scenes, West Virginia E-File and CourtPLUS manage Circuit and Family filings. The Vault stores scanned paper-file documents. None of that removes the local clerk. Self-represented parties may still file on paper, and sealed documents must be paper-filed. Rule 15A.26 also preserves public access through the Circuit Clerk to nonsealed, nonconfidential electronic docket material and documents.
That split explains an online docket entry with no available image. The other reason is an older file. It needs archive retrieval. The Circuit Clerk can check the authoritative record. The same office prints public documents for the standard fee and explains how to request certification. Registered E-File access is not a substitute for public-record access.
Finding Court Dates and Settings
No confirmed countywide daily-docket page is published for Mercer County. For Circuit cases, read the WVPASS hearing information. Add the newest notice or order. For Magistrate cases, check MCRSearch. Call Karmin Richmond when a date is missing or unclear. Confirm a municipal case with the city named on the citation. The full Mercer County court calendar process adds courthouse and judge-office fallbacks.
A setting is not automatically a trial. It could be an arraignment, status conference, motion hearing, pretrial conference, evidentiary hearing, sentencing, or docket call. Later docket activity can continue or cancel it. Mercer Circuit terms open on the second Monday of February, June, and October. Term dates never replace the notice in the case.
When a Hearing Date Does Not Match
Use the newest official source. Compare the latest docket entry with the written notice or order, then contact the clerk or assigned judge's office. Do not assume that an older portal entry, payment screen, or Circuit term date controls.
Have the full case number and both dates in hand before you call. Circuit Judge Brian Cochran works from Suite 211 at the courthouse. Ryan Flanigan works from Suite 200. Mark Wills works from the annex at 120 Scott Street. Chamber numbers suit a hearing-setting question. For copies, they do not replace Julie Ball's record counter.
Search, Document, and Copy Fees
Browsing is not the same as obtaining a document. WVPASS case detail is free after registration, but document access is charged on the spot and a wrong-case purchase will not be refunded. Before ordering, ask the clerk for a page count, the certification charge, postage, accepted payment, and turnaround time.
| Item | Published Amount | Important Limit |
|---|---|---|
| WVPASS case details | Free after free registration | Public Circuit records only |
| WVPASS document | $0.25 per page, plus nominal card processing | Not certified; wrong-case purchases are nonrefundable |
| Circuit Clerk copy for outside use | $1 per page under W.Va. Code §59-1-11 | Ask about certification and delivery |
| Magistrate photocopy | $0.25 per page | Large burdensome requests may be delayed or denied |
| Magistrate fax | $2 per page | Subject to Administrative Rule 11 |
Public Access to Dockets
Open court records can be inspected through the applicable portal or custodian. But access depends on the court and the document. A public index does not make every pleading public. Sealed matters, juvenile records, and much Family Court content stay withheld even when a public order or index exists. Make any request specific: name the court, the case number, the exact document, and the copy type you want.
Key Rules:
W.Va. Code §29B-1-3 provides the inspection and copy-request framework, including a five-business-day response rule.
Trial Court Rules 10.04 and 15A.26 address court-record requests and clerk-office access to public electronic case material.
W.Va. Code §49-5-103 protects juvenile records and limits who may receive them.
Family Court Rule 6 keeps orders and indexes public while treating pleadings, recordings, exhibits, and transcripts as confidential.
Why a Mercer Case May Be Missing Online
A blank result is not proof that no case exists. A Circuit case may predate WVPASS's July 1, 1999 coverage, be sealed or juvenile, belong to Magistrate or municipal court, or await imaging or correction. Magistrate queries also miss matches when the result cap, a spelling issue, or the wrong court level gets in the way.
- Sealed
- Access is restricted by law or court order; the public portal does not expose the file.
- Confidential
- A rule limits access by record type, as with much Family Court material.
- Non-imaged
- A clerk may hold a paper or archived document that is not available as an online image.
- Certified copy
- A clerk-issued copy authenticated for official use; portal downloads are not certified.
The Clerk and Docket Records
Record custody in Mercer County is split between two clerks. Circuit Clerk Julie Ball holds the Circuit and Family material: pleadings, indexes, orders, electronic files, and docket records. Magistrate Clerk Karmin Richmond keeps the limited-jurisdiction side, covering criminal, traffic, small-civil, warrant, bond, fine, and cost records. So the case type decides which office you call. When you request a copy, name the exact document. That could be a docket sheet, judgment, sentencing order, complaint, transcript, or the full public file. Say whether it must be plain, certified, or exemplified.
Mercer County Circuit Clerk Julie Ball
Mercer County Courthouse, 1501 Main Street
Princeton, WV 24740
304-487-8323 · Fax 304-425-1598
Mercer County Magistrate Clerk Karmin Richmond
120 Scott Street, Suite 103
Princeton, WV 24740
304-431-7115 · Fax 304-425-6106
Two Princeton Addresses Matter
Two Princeton courthouses matter here. The Mercer County Courthouse at 1501 Main Street houses the Circuit Clerk. It also holds two Circuit judges. Family Court, the Magistrate Clerk, the Magistrate Court offices, and Judge Mark Wills's chambers all sit at the Scott Street courthouse and annex, 120 Scott Street. Before you drive over, call ahead about entry, security, parking, accessibility, and counter hours, since the official county page leaves some of that out. The limestone courthouse on Main Street was completed in 1931, designed by Bluefield architect Alex B. Mahood, and joined the National Register in 1980. It is Mercer's sixth courthouse. That long custody chain matters for old court records. A filing may live in a paper archive or a scanned Vault even when it never shows up in the current public interface.
Bluefield Federal Dockets Use PACER
A federal case arising in Mercer County never lands on a state Circuit docket. It belongs to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Its Bluefield Division serves Mercer, McDowell, and Monroe counties. Federal dockets and filed documents are searched through CM/ECF and PACER. The usual cost is $0.10 per page under PACER's policies and caps. The Elizabeth Kee Federal Building sits at 601 Federal Street, Room 1000, Bluefield, WV 24701. The clerk line is 304-327-9798. Watch the case number. One that starts like 2:26-cv is a strong federal clue. And never send a federal copy request to the Mercer Circuit Clerk; that office cannot fill it.
Court Dockets by City in Mercer County
Municipal courts run their own show, keeping ordinance-case records outside WVPASS and MCRSearch. Princeton publishes a detailed municipal citation search. Bluefield posts court contacts and session information. Athens, Bramwell, and Matoaka offer no official public portal. So their pages lead with the local custodian. They also name the court on the ticket. Population figures below come from the 2020 Census incorporated-place table.
Bluefield Court Docket
9,658 · Municipal sessions and clerk route published by the city.
Princeton Court Docket
5,872 · Tyler portal searches citations by six identifier paths.
Athens Court Docket
962 · Town office is the municipal-record starting point.
Bramwell Court Docket
276 · Town Hall directs municipal case and copy requests.
Matoaka Court Docket
173 · Municipal Center is the official local contact route.
Map and Directions to the Mercer County Courthouse
Circuit Court files are kept at the Mercer County Courthouse, 1501 Main Street in Princeton. Circuit Clerk Julie Ball's office and two Circuit judges' suites are in this four-story limestone building, completed in 1931 and listed on the National Register in 1980. Family Court and the Magistrate Clerk sit in a separate building at 120 Scott Street, so those matters are not filed at Main Street.
Mercer County Circuit Clerk Julie Ball
Mercer County Courthouse, 1501 Main Street
Princeton, WV 24740
304-487-8323 · Fax 304-425-1598
The official county page does not publish current entry, security, parking, or accessibility details for this courthouse, so confirm those and the counter hours by phone before traveling.