Sam Perdue Juvenile Center Inmate Bail & Bonds

The Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, near Beckley. The state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation runs it. It also holds people from Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties. The county government pays the state a daily housing cost for its pretrial inmates. Families do not.

Not for where the person goes. Princeton Police, 100 Courthouse Road, 304-487-5000, Athens Police, 304-384-3525, Bluefield officers and sheriff's deputies all bring the person before a Mercer magistrate. The Sheriff's Office is at 1501 West Main Street, Princeton, 304-487-8364. A court can order up to 96 hours in an approved local jail before the regional jail takes over.

Search the name at Mercer County Inmate Search. If nothing comes up, call the Beaver jail at 304-256-6726 with the legal name and birth date. Then call the magistrate clerk at 304-431-7115 to see if a complaint exists. The name of the arresting agency speeds things up.

Do not pay anyone who calls you and promises a release. Look up the numbers on this page yourself.

Without unnecessary delay, in the county where the arrest happened. State law gives no hour count. A person already at the regional jail sees the Mercer magistrate by video. The magistrate explains the charge and the right to a lawyer, allows time to call one or to arrange bail, and sets the terms.

Five magistrates work at 120 Scott Street. Their direct lines are 304-431-7117, 304-431-7118, 304-431-7119, 304-325-3774 and 304-325-3582. One magistrate is on call when the office is closed. That magistrate checks the jail and juvenile facility at set times and goes to the office if someone can be released on bond.

A cash deposit. A recognizance, which is a written promise by one or more people to forfeit a set sum if the defendant fails to appear. Or another form the trial judge allows. In practice a magistrate may also use a signature bond, an unsecured bond, a bondsman, or a pledge of property, along with rules such as staying away from a victim.

Often no. A misdemeanor defendant is released on a promise to appear unless the judge finds good cause. The presumption does not apply when the charge involves violence, a minor victim, a weapon, drugs, sexual abuse, serious drunk-driving laws, or property valued above $250. Any cash bail is capped at three times the offense's top fine.

The law. A magistrate may not release on a promise alone when the felony is a violent crime against a person, has a minor victim, is arson or burglary, or is a drug offense. Where the crime carries life in prison, bail is up to the judge with trial power. Every other charge must be admitted to bail.

Pay the magistrate court at 120 Scott Street or the circuit clerk at the courthouse, 1501 Main Street, 304-487-8323. The courts take currency, cashier's checks, certified checks, money orders and traveler's checks. Personal checks can be refused, and cards cannot post a bond. Office hours are set by the court, so call the clerk first.

Keep the receipt with the case number. Then call the Beaver jail at 304-256-6726 and ask how long release takes.

For minor motor-vehicle misdemeanors, a guaranteed arrest bond certificate can stand in for bail up to $500. It cannot be used for reckless driving or DUI. Ask the magistrate clerk whether your charge qualifies.

At least ten percent. For a $10,000 bond that is $1,000 or more. A bondsman may take 3 percent at signing and spread the balance over up to twelve months, but total fees cannot exceed the bond. The Insurance Commissioner licenses bondsmen, and they must give a receipt for collateral.

Only when a detainee or someone for the detainee calls the bondsman. Paying police, deputies, jailers or clerks for referrals is illegal. On request, jail staff must give a detainee the posted list of authorized bondsmen and help connect the call.

Yes, real estate in West Virginia does. After liens, its assessed value on the county land books must equal at least half the bail. A surety company authorized in the state is the other option. Bring deed and tax papers to the circuit clerk. A judge may not name a relative as your surety.

Yes. The rules allow a friend or relative to post bail for an absent defendant when both the defendant and a magistrate sign a written acknowledgment. Cash deposits go back to the person who made them, so the payer should keep the receipt.

Common ones are no new crimes, staying with a responsible adult, staying away from a victim or witness, looking for work, avoiding alcohol and unprescribed drugs, home confinement, and electronic monitoring where a program exists. In a domestic violence case, the bond may also bar contact with the victim and require court appearances at least every sixty days.

A lawyer files a motion. The other side must get notice, and the hearing must happen within five days of the filing. A misdemeanor defendant held on a secured bond who cannot pay also gets a hearing within five days of the bail decision. The magistrate who sets bail keeps control only until the case is assigned.

The court may forfeit the bond, and willful failure to appear is a crime. After a felony arrest the penalty can reach $5,000 and five years in prison. After a misdemeanor arrest it can reach $1,000 and a year in county jail. A bench warrant needs proof of notice. A defendant who appears within 24 hours generally avoids that charge.

When the bond is satisfied or a forfeiture is set aside, the court returns cash deposits to whoever made them. A surety who returns the defendant to custody within two years after a forfeiture is repaid. Ask the circuit clerk about the paperwork and bring your receipt.

The Public Defender Corporation is on the third floor of the Law Building, 1460 East Main Street, Princeton, 304-487-2543. Tell the magistrate you need an appointed lawyer. Detained juveniles may go to the Sam Perdue Juvenile Center, 843 Shelter Road, Princeton, 304-425-9721, which serves all 55 counties, or to the Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center in Julian, 304-369-2976.

A person with an earlier bail from another county may appear before a Mercer magistrate on a new charge. The magistrate considers the earlier amount but is not bound by it, and must explain any different amount in writing. Ask the clerk at 304-431-7115 which case each number belongs to.