The Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in Augusta. It is a state facility run by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation and serves Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral and Pendleton counties.

State law lets a court hold an arrestee in an approved county or city jail for up to 96 hours first. The county pays the state for pretrial housing, so the family does not.

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Look up the name on Hampshire County Inmate Search. A new booking can take some hours to appear.

The jail's main line is 304-496-1275. The Hampshire County Sheriff's Office, 66 North High Street in Romney, answers at 304-822-3894 and can tell you who made the arrest.

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Without unnecessary delay. The officer must take the person to a magistrate in the county where the arrest occurred, and the rules set no number of hours. A person held in the Augusta jail before that hearing appears over video.

At the hearing the magistrate explains the charge and the right to a lawyer, lets the person arrange bail, and sets release terms. The magistrate lines are 304-822-4022 and 304-822-4228.

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One magistrate is on call whenever the office is shut. The magistrate checks with the jail at fixed times: 10 to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday; 10 to 11 a.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and holidays; noon to 1 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on Sundays.

The on-call magistrate goes to the Romney court office when there is a person to see or a bond to take. Magistrate court itself runs every judicial day except Saturday.

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Go to the magistrate clerk in Suite 3 of the Judicial Center, 50 South High Street, Romney (mail: P.O. Box 881, Romney, WV 26757), 304-822-4311. The statute makes the clerk or the magistrate the one who receives bail.

Take cash, a cashier's check, certified check, money order or traveler's check. A personal check can be refused, and cards do not work for bond. The circuit clerk, Suite 157 of the same building, is at 304-822-5022.

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Visits at the Augusta jail are non-contact and offered Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Book a day ahead by calling 304-496-7057 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; visits cannot be booked at the window.

Each inmate gets one visit a month, with no more than two adults, or one adult and two children. Visitors need photo ID, and people under 18 need a birth certificate and a parent or guardian.

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Not unless there is good cause. The magistrate must release a misdemeanor defendant on a written promise to return, and weighs residence, community ties and flight risk.

The rule does not reach crimes of violence, offenses with a minor victim, deadly weapons, controlled substances, sexual abuse, serious drunk-driving statutes, or theft and tampering over $250. On a misdemeanor, cash bail cannot pass three times the top fine.

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Every felony that is not punishable by life carries a right to bail. The magistrate considers the harm done, record, ability to pay, residence, health, the strength of the evidence, and whether the person is on probation or parole.

Violent felonies against a person, felonies with a minor victim, felony arson or burglary, and felony drug charges cannot be released on a magistrate's promise-only order.

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First, whether the Insurance Commissioner has licensed the person. Licensing is required for all bonding work. Then ask for the fee in writing. It must be at least 10 percent of the bond, and the bondsman can take as little as 3 percent at the start with a year to pay the rest.

Collateral requires a numbered receipt. Call the Commissioner at 304-558-0610 or use the bondsman license page. A bondsman cannot reward a deputy or clerk for referrals.

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An adult who owns West Virginia real estate can sign a recognizance. The assessed value in the county land books, less mortgages and liens, must be at least half the bail.

The magistrate clerk, 304-822-4311, tells you which papers to bring. A licensed surety company offers an alternative through a bondsman release.

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Yes. A motion with notice to both sides produces a hearing within five days. In a misdemeanor, a person who stays jailed for lack of a secured bond is owed a hearing within five days of the original order.

Courts may then swap money for conditions such as a custodian, work, alcohol limits, home incarceration or electronic monitoring where the program exists.

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The suspect goes before a magistrate in the county where it happened. When the magistrate finds a threat, the bond requires staying away from the victim's home, school and workplace.

The victim may obtain free certified copies of the conditions from the clerk. If the defendant breaks them, an officer must arrest, and a hearing follows to decide on revoking bail.

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Hampshire County has no public defender office of its own. A magistrate explains the right to counsel at the first appearance, and the court can appoint a lawyer for a person who qualifies. Ask then.

Public Defender Services in Charleston answers general questions at 304-558-3905. County probation is at 50 South High Street, Suite 4, 304-822-4712.

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The J.M. "Chick" Buckbee Juvenile Center, 144 Jerry Lane, Augusta, WV 26704, is a state center in the county and houses male youth in detention or commitment. Its phone is 304-496-1341.

Female youth go to a center that takes girls. The Vicki V. Douglas Juvenile Center in Martinsburg, 304-267-0164, houses male and female residents. The Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center, 304-369-2976, serves all counties as well.

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The bail can be forfeited, and the people who put up money get ten days' notice by certified mail first. A bondsman who brings the person in within two years of the forfeiture gets the forfeited sum back.

Failure to appear is also a separate crime: one to five years and up to $5,000 after a felony arrest, and up to a year and $1,000 after a misdemeanor arrest.

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