Western Regional Jail Release Records

Where Western Releases Go

Western Regional Jail records several kinds of departure. A person can return to the community after bond, dismissal, time served, sentence completion, or another court order. A state-sentenced person can move to a different WVDCR institution. Another jurisdiction may assume custody under a detainer. Escape and death also change physical-custody records, though neither is a community release.

The public fields in WVDCR Policy Directive 142.00 distinguish these outcomes. Actual release date and time, method of discharge, release destination, institution or judicial district of release, and after-the-fact transfer destination are separate fields. That separation is vital for Lincoln County because leaving Western does not always mean leaving state control.

A live roster cannot reliably supply this history. Use the record tied to the event and do not translate “not found” into “released.”

Confirm a Western Release

Western is a regional jail operated by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, not a Lincoln County sheriff jail. Begin with the WVDCR regional-jail route for a person held on a Lincoln case. DOC offender-search mode serves a different role for sentenced state offenders. Using DOC mode for every Lincoln arrest can miss the right record.

1. Check the official regional-jail search entry as a current-custody cross-check. Record when the check was made.
2. If the person is absent, search West Virginia VINE for a reported custody change and read the event type and reporting agency.
3. Locate the Lincoln magistrate or circuit case and obtain the bond, dismissal, sentencing, credit, probation, or revocation order that may explain legal authority.
4. Call Western for real-time operational clarification, while recognizing that staff may limit disclosure.
5. Request the focused WVDCR release or movement fields when release versus transfer remains unclear.

The Lincoln County released inmate search explains the full cross-agency sequence. The court record and DCR record should be reconciled. A court order can precede physical processing, while the facility event record can document a transfer without explaining the entire legal case.

Western Release Records and Contact

The facility number is the proper route for operational questions before travel. No verified public release-desk hours, pickup door, waiting area, family pickup rule, or local property protocol was found. A call can ask what the facility may disclose about a named release, but it does not replace a written event record.

For a durable release or movement record, send a focused request to the Commissioner or FOIA Custodian, West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 1409 Greenbrier Street, Charleston, WV 25311. The central telephone is 304-558-2036. State the person's name and identifiers, Lincoln as the arrest or sentencing county, Western as the likely institution, and the approximate period when confinement ended.

Ask for the actual date and time of release or transfer, method of discharge, release destination, institution or judicial district of release, time served, mandatory-release date if applicable, and after-the-fact transfer destination. Electronic delivery and a cost estimate can keep the request narrow. Under West Virginia FOIA, the custodian acts as soon as practicable and within five days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, by producing, arranging inspection, or denying in writing.

Note: No facility-specific release-record fee was verified; do not assume that every electronic request has a charge.

Western Regional Jail's Lincoln Role

Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility opened on December 13, 2003. It serves Cabell, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam, and Wayne Counties. The site is in Barboursville in Cabell County, yet Lincoln criminal cases remain in Lincoln County. That split means one release question may require a Lincoln court order and a Western or DCR movement record.

Western holds people at different stages. Its population includes pretrial detainees and sentenced misdemeanor or felony prisoners. A facility record therefore does not establish that a person was convicted, and the same facility name can appear in a short bond case or a sentence-related transfer. Match the record to the Lincoln docket and the person's legal stage.

The Lincoln County Sheriff may arrest or transport a person, but that role does not make the sheriff custodian of Western's regional-jail release database. WVDCR operates the facility and the statewide search and records structure.

Why Lincoln Has No County Jail

West Virginia replaced county jails with ten state-operated regional jails that serve all 55 counties. Lincoln therefore has no standalone adult county jail in the official map. Western is the primary and only adult facility supported by the available official evidence. A Lincoln County search begins with state DCR tools even though the criminal case remains local.

This regional model explains why a search limited to the Lincoln County Sheriff's website can fail. The person may be held in Barboursville, and the state agency holds the confinement record. It also explains why Western serves people with cases from five counties and why a county name alone may not be enough to distinguish two similar identities.

A Lincoln County Youth Reporting Center was identified, but it is a community-based juvenile diversion and reporting program, not an adult jail. Juvenile confidentiality and the program's non-jail role make it unsuitable for an adult released-inmate facility page.

Western Release Logistics Are Unpublished

No official source reviewed for Western states a fixed release window, release door, public family waiting zone, rideshare rule, taxi arrangement, bus stop, or weekend and holiday procedure. No official recent-release mobile app was found. These are meaningful limits. They should not be replaced with practices from a different regional jail.

Western's official directions identify the facility at the top of O'Hanlon Place off Old Guyan River Road and support finding the institution. They do not promise where a released person exits or where another person may wait. Call 304-733-6821 before traveling and ask what can be disclosed for the specific authorized release.

Statewide DCR policies address release, property, identification, and transportation processes, but they do not justify an unconditional promise that a certain ride, payment, voucher, pickup practice, or third-party property collection will apply. No verified “gate money,” transit voucher, family pickup rule, or weekend workaround was found for Western.

Note: Staff may withhold exact timing or movement detail for security or privacy reasons even when a release is expected.

Western Property and Transfer Records

WVDCR's offender-record policy indicates that property receipts and inventories, time sheets, booking records, transport orders, warrant material, and Board decision summaries can exist within the agency record structure. That does not make every page public. It does support a narrow request for a former detainee's own property accounting or for the specific release and transfer fields identified as public.

When a departure is disputed, request records in tiers. Start with the release or movement event and transfer destination. Then seek the release authorization or court order and the relevant time sheet if the date is contested. A person requesting their own property record can ask for the related receipt or inventory and ask Western about its current process. No third-party collection rule or retention period should be assumed.

For a transfer, the receiving agency is the final confirmation of continued custody. VINE transfer notice can be delayed until arrival, so a gap between disappearance from Western and a new facility event is possible. During that gap, silence does not establish community release.

A date-bounded request is often more effective than asking for the whole file. Identify the Lincoln case, the likely booking period, and the event being checked. If DCR denies part of the request, ask whether the listed public release fields can be separated from exempt material. The aim is a reliable event record, not unrelated medical, security, juvenile, or private content.