How to Search Civil Dockets
Civil cases in Cabell County Circuit Court live in WVPASS. Register once and browsing is free, with records reaching back to July 1, 1999. A case number is the best search tool. If you only have a name, check the Cabell County filing date, case type, and caption before paying for anything, because downloads run $0.25 per page plus card processing and nothing you print is certified.
For small claims and other Magistrate civil matters, use the free MCRSearch portal instead. It takes a first name, a last name, or a case number. You get case and event details there. Actual filed documents come straight from the Cabell Magistrate Clerk.
- Identify Circuit, Magistrate, Family, or County Clerk records first.
- Open WVPASS for Circuit or MCRSearch for Magistrate.
- Search the exact number, or narrow a name by county and year.
- Read the newest filing, setting, status, and judgment.
- Request certified material from the proper clerk.
Cabell Civil Courts Are Split
Civil work in Cabell County is divided by court level. Circuit Court takes all equity matters. It also takes civil cases at law above the Judiciary's stated $7,500 general threshold. Magistrate Court takes the small claims. Family Court hears domestic relations, though public access there is narrow. Whichever level you land in decides both the portal and the clerk who holds the paper.
Circuit filings and public Family Court orders go through the Cabell County Circuit Clerk. Magistrate papers go through Magistrate Clerk Julie G. Callicoat. The County Clerk has no routine hand in civil case files.
What a Civil Docket Shows
A Cabell County civil docket header tells you a lot. It covers the court, case number, caption, filing date, case type, amount, judge, and status. Party fields sort who sued whom, separating plaintiff from defendant and petitioner from respondent. From there, the event history tells the procedural story in order. One habit matters: read the newest entry. An old setting can linger on the docket after a continuance.
| Case Number | The exact identifier and strongest search key. |
|---|---|
| Parties | Plaintiff, petitioner, defendant, respondent, and counsel. |
| Filings | Complaint, answer, notice, exhibits, orders, and judgment papers. |
| Motions | Requests awaiting action and orders that decide them. |
| Judgment | Final judgment, default, dismissal, agreed order, or other outcome. |
Cabell Civil Filings in 2025
The Judiciary's 2025 report counts 632 general civil filings in Cabell Circuit Court. Its Magistrate civil table breaks out 2,066 small claims filings. Those sit within 2,922 total matters. Count filings only, not judgments or what is still pending. For newer preliminary figures, the Judiciary dashboard posts updates. But the final annual reports remain the authoritative count.
Types of Civil Cases
Civil work in Cabell County splits across three courts. The Circuit docket carries general civil claims, equity, guardianships, adoptions, and appeals from lower courts. Magistrate dockets hold small claims and statutory protective matters. Family Court takes domestic relations, though Family Court Rule 6 shields most pleadings, exhibits, transcripts, and proceedings while orders and indices stay open.
Deeds and estates travel a different path. County Clerk Scott Caserta keeps Cabell County deeds, liens, estates, probate orders, and recorded indexes. The County Clerk IDX tracks that material down. Just remember: its records are land and probate filings, not civil complaints.
- General civil claims and equitable relief in Circuit Court
- Small claims and statutory civil matters in Magistrate Court
- Guardianship, adoption, and qualifying appeals in Circuit Court
- Divorce, custody, and support in Family Court
- Probate and recorded instruments in the separate County Clerk system
Cabell Civil Docket Terms
- Default judgment
- A judgment entered after a required answer or appearance did not occur; the order controls.
- Nonsuit
- A plaintiff's voluntary end to a claim. Check whether it was with or without prejudice.
- Dismissal
- An order closing claims, sometimes with a right to seek reinstatement.
- Execution
- A post-judgment enforcement process.
- Satisfaction
- An entry showing a judgment obligation was met or released.
Settings and Hearings on Civil Dockets
A setting on the civil docket tells you a lot at a glance. Look for the date, time, room, location, judge, event type, and whether the event closed. Motion hearings, status conferences, and trials each do different work. A setting is not a judgment. One closed event does not mean the whole case ended.
Always weigh the newest event against the latest order. A continuance shifts the proceeding; it never dismisses the claim. When entries conflict, confirm a near-term setting with the clerk. Lean on the Cabell County court calendar workflow too.
When Cabell Cases Are Missing
A missing case usually has a simple fix. Check the spelling, the filing year, the court level, and whether the case is public. WVPASS skips Circuit filings from before July 1999 and leaves out sealed or juvenile matters. MCRSearch will not hand you the full paper file. A Family Court case may show nothing beyond an order or an index entry.
For Circuit and Family records, call 304-526-8622. Or go to Room 114 at 750 Fifth Avenue. For Magistrate records, the numbers are 304-526-8642 and 304-526-8644. Give the clerk the names, the year, and the case number if you have it. Name the exact paper you need too.
Public Access to Cabell County Civil Dockets
West Virginia opens court records to inspection and copying unless a rule restricts access. Trial Court Rule 10.04 requires reasonable inspection facilities during usual business hours. A request can be oral or written. The clerk hands over papers. The office will not build a report or interpret the case for you.
Know the limits before you pay. WVPASS downloads are not certified. Circuit paper copies that leave the office cost $1 per page. Ask the clerk about certification, payment, mailing, and turnaround, since Cabell County offers no online request form.
Key Rules:
West Virginia Code § 51-4-2 protects court-paper access unless another rule limits it.
West Virginia Code § 29B-1-3 addresses inspection, electronic formats, and copy costs.
Family Court Rule 6 makes orders and indices public while protecting most of the file.
Cabell Judgments and Later Entries
A Cabell County civil docket rarely stops at the judgment. New filings can follow for years. An abstract of judgment, an execution, garnishment, appeal, or satisfaction may show up long after the main claim is decided. Read the date and text of every later order. An abstract only records judgment information for another legal purpose. It does not prove money is still owed. A satisfaction suggests payment or release. But the filed instrument itself controls how far it reaches.
Circuit Court judgments and qualifying Magistrate appeals live with the Cabell County Circuit Clerk. That office is the record source. West Virginia Code section 59-1-11 sets a $5 fee for an abstract of judgment. Circuit copies cost $1 per page. Keep those amounts separate from County Clerk charges on recorded instruments. Room 114 can tell you whether certification costs extra. Ask what payment or return-mail method the office accepts.
For a matter that began in Magistrate Court, run the case through MCRSearch first. Then ask Room B-113 for the filed judgment or a certified copy. An appeal that reaches Circuit Court becomes its own Circuit record under a new filing. When the lower-court docket shows an appeal or transfer, search both case numbers.
Cabell Family Orders and Indices
Family Court belongs to the civil side. Yet it does not behave like an ordinary open civil file. Rule 6 draws a line. Orders and court indices stay public. Pleadings, exhibits, transcripts, and the proceedings themselves remain confidential. So reading a public order does not unlock the rest of the family record.
Cabell Family Court sits at 402 8th Street, second floor. Its records, though, route through the Circuit Clerk at 750 Fifth Avenue. That split trips up plenty of requests. Call the Family Court office to confirm where a hearing is held. Go to the Circuit Clerk for the public record the clerk maintains. One more caution: a sparse public index does not support guesses about private allegations. The 2025 state report counted 395 divorces in Cabell. It also logged 512 domestic-violence cases, 268 other domestic-relations matters, 227 modifications, and 169 contempt proceedings. Those numbers show scale, not scope. They do not enlarge what anyone may inspect. Rule 6 still governs each record. Ask for the specific public order or index rather than an unrestricted family file. When a public order is not online, hand the clerk the names and the approximate year. Include the case number if you know it. That keeps retrieval quick. It also honors the line between public docket information and confidential pleadings.