Western Regional Release Roles
Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility is operated by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It serves Cabell, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam, and Wayne counties. WVDCR describes both pretrial and sentenced felony and misdemeanor populations, along with a state correctional function. A person’s physical location at WRJCF therefore does not tell you which legal track controls the release.
A Cabell County pretrial detainee may be held while the court case moves forward. A bond, recognizance order, dismissal, or other court order can end that hold, but another case or detainer may keep the person in custody. A jail-sentenced person may complete a local term. A state-sentenced person at the correctional side may instead transfer within WVDCR or depart through parole, conditional release, mandatory supervision, or sentence discharge.
The rated population figure is a facility measure, not a count of releases. A historical 2018 audit also reported 7,249 admissions in its own 12-month period. That old turnover measure explains why live custody data can change fast, but it must not be presented as a current annual release figure.
Western Regional Release Destinations
A Western Regional release event answers only whether WRJCF’s authority to hold someone ended. It does not always show that the person entered the community. The WVDCR record field for method of discharge and the release or transfer destination provide the key distinction. A court order explains the legal authority, while the corrections event supplies the actual date and time.
| Recorded path | What it means | Best confirmation |
|---|---|---|
| Bond or court release | The named court hold ended, subject to other holds | Signed order plus WVDCR release event |
| Time served or discharge | The applicable custody term was credited or completed | Time sheet, release book, and discharge record |
| Parole or supervision | Physical custody may end while supervision continues | Board order, WVDCR event, and supervision record |
| WVDCR transfer | The person remains in state custody | Transfer destination after the event |
| Other jurisdiction | Federal, immigration, out-of-state, or other authority assumes custody | Destination plus the receiving system |
An immigration detainer is a request for notice and a limited continued hold so ICE can assume custody. Research found no proof that WRJCF operates as an ICE contract detention site. Treat this as a case-specific path only. Likewise, transfer to the U.S. Marshals Service or another jurisdiction is not community release.
Note: “Released from Western Regional” and “fully discharged from all custody and supervision” are separate facts that require separate records.
Confirm a Western Regional Release
The correct starting portal depends on legal status. Use the WVDCR jail search for a regional-jail detainee. Daily Incarcerations can show admissions and current-incarceration context, but it is not a recent-release feed. Use the WVDCR prison search when the person is held under a state correctional commitment or remains in active state supervision data. VINE covers WRJCF and state correctional facilities as a custody-status and notification layer.
The WVDCR Offender Search gateway separates these channels. Save the lookup time, match date of birth and OID where available, and note the exact facility and status. A name disappearing from a current product does not establish release because data can change, lag, transfer, or become unavailable for other lawful reasons.
- Identify whether the stay is on the jail side or the state correctional side.
- Search the matching WVDCR product and West Virginia VINE, using more than the name to confirm identity.
- Read the Cabell court docket for bond, dismissal, sentence, credit, commitment, or modification authority.
- Request the WVDCR release date and time, method, destination, release-book entry, legal authority, and time calculation.
- Check parole, another case, and any receiving custodian before describing a return to the community.
The complete named-person workflow and court layer appear on the Cabell County released inmates search page. It is useful when the person’s custody class is not yet clear.
Western Regional Release Records
WVDCR is the principal custodian for WRJCF booking, custody, time-computation, release, discharge, and institutional photograph records. Cabell County Sheriff may hold arrest, transport, or incident records it created, but it does not operate a separate adult county jail. A release request sent only to the sheriff can miss the records that prove when and how the person left Western Regional.
A focused West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request should identify the person by full name, aliases, date of birth, OID if known, and custody date range. Ask for the booking or admission time, court and case number, release date and time, method of discharge, release or transfer destination, legal holding and release authority, jail-credit memorandum, time sheet or Inmate Recap Report, release-book entry, time served, and discharge certificate. Request reasonably segregable nonexempt portions instead of the whole institutional file.
Under West Virginia Code §29B-1-3, the custodian must act as soon as practicable and within the statutory maximum response period, excluding weekends and legal holidays. The action may be production, an inspection arrangement, or written denial. Actual completion can take longer when clarification or lawful redaction is needed.
Short sentences can leave a precise paper trail. WVDCR policy says that for a commitment of 30 days or fewer, booking staff calculate the release from the OIS Inmate Recap Report, enter it in the release book, and route the court order and recap for an accuracy check. If a short WRJCF release date is disputed, name the recap, release-book entry, court order, and review record in the request. Those items are more useful than trying to reconstruct the event from a roster screenshot.
Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
One O’Hanlon Place
Barboursville, WV 25504
304-733-6821
Fax: 304-733-6867
WVDCR central records correspondence may be directed through current agency instructions at 1409 Greenbrier Street, Charleston, WV 25311, while clearly naming WRJCF and the relevant stay. Ask a custodian to route a misdirected request or identify the right component.
Western Regional Parole Delay
A parole grant at a regional jail is not the moment of physical release. The West Virginia Parole Board explains that a person granted parole while at a regional jail transfers to a DCR facility for intake and fingerprinting before departure. The Board advises anticipating seven to ten days for that process. A calendar entry or grant decision should not be reported as the actual release date.
A contingent grant can also depend on conditions. New disciplinary facts, failure of a required condition, or a change involving a detainer can affect the path before the person leaves. The record set should include the Board decision, any conditions, the subsequent WVDCR transfer or intake event, and the true release date and destination.
This delay is specific to the state process documented for regional jails. It helps explain why a caller may hear that parole was granted while a current custody source still shows the person inside the WVDCR system. Neither source should be discarded. They describe different points in the sequence.
Western Regional Release Logistics
The WRJCF information brochure expressly says staff cannot give release dates or times and cannot provide an exact or estimated release time. Families should not treat property hours as a release schedule. The brochure separately lists weekday third-party property pickup from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and question-line hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those times should be verified before travel.
No official rolling 24-hour or 72-hour release feed was identified for WRJCF. Daily Incarcerations is labeled as admissions, and the active jail lookup can change quickly. A recent Western Regional release should therefore be confirmed through VINE, the court order, and the WVDCR record rather than by turning a roster disappearance into a synthetic release list.
Transportation also requires planning. A state transportation announcement documented that TTA stopped using Western Regional Jail as its Barboursville park-and-ride stop in 2010 and moved that stop to Mall Road. No current official source in the research establishes a jail-gate bus stop, release door, or family waiting area. Verify current transit and arrange a pickup without assuming the old stop still exists.
WVDCR describes facility access from Interstate 64 Exit 18 by Old Guyan River Road and O’Hanlon Place. That is a general approach, not proof of the point used for discharge. A person planning a pickup should confirm current access with the facility while respecting that staff will not estimate the actual release time.
Note: Property pickup hours, office question hours, and inmate departure times are distinct schedules and must not be merged.
Western Regional Facility Record
The official WRJCF facility page confirms the operator, address, service counties, opening history, and contact route. The matching success image below preserves that facility source without displaying a person in custody.
The juvenile center next door has a different legal framework. Its presence at Two O’Hanlon Place does not make youth records part of the adult Western Regional search. The separate Robert L. Shell facility record page explains the strict authorized-request route without exposing youth information.