Fayette County Inmate Population
Fayette County does not operate a separate adult county jail for ordinary detention. The county's official regional jail information page sends people incarcerated after arrest or court order to Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility. The facility is operated by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and it sits in Beaver in Raleigh County. That location can be confusing because an arrest may begin in Fayetteville, Oak Hill, Mount Hope, Montgomery, Ansted, Gauley Bridge, Smithers, or a rural sheriff patrol area, while the jail record appears under the regional jail system.
The Fayette County inmate population count therefore has two meanings. At the local stage, it means people from Fayette County who are booked into Southern Regional Jail after arrest, initial appearance, court order, sentence, or hold. At the wider custody stage, it can include a sentenced person who leaves jail for a state prison, a federal defendant held under a U.S. Marshals contract, or a person listed in a separate federal or immigration locator. The right search depends on that custody stage.
Where Fayette County Inmates Are Held
Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility is the primary detention facility serving Fayette County. WVDCR lists the facility as serving Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming counties. Its FY2025 Annual Report describes the population as pretrial felons and misdemeanants, sentenced felons and misdemeanants from those counties, and federal detainees held under a U.S. Marshals Service contract. A facility search by institution can mix people from all seven counties, so a Fayette County case should be checked against the county of arrest, court file, or Daily Incarcerations county path when available.
The modern custody route also explains a common local mistake. Fayette County has a historic former county jail in downtown Fayetteville that became the Jail and Law Enforcement Museum after the old jail closed in 1994. That building is not the live inmate lookup point. Current jail custody for Fayette County arrestees runs through WVDCR and Southern Regional Jail.
The Fayette County regional jail information page is the county-level source for that routing. It ties county arrests and court-ordered detention to Southern Regional Jail rather than to a sheriff-run roster.
That official page is useful because it confirms the county-to-regional-jail link before a search moves to the state roster.
Fayette County Inmate Population Statistics
The best current facility number in the research is Southern Regional Jail's rated population, not a Fayette-only daily count. The WVDCR FY2025 Annual Report lists Southern Regional Jail's rated population as 468. Older West Virginia Blue Book material gave a design capacity of 362 and said the original design was for 300. The public DCR facility page does not post a live total population count, and the located public sources did not publish a Fayette County-only average daily jail population or annual booking total.
| Measure | Figure | Source and Date |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Regional Jail rated population | 468 | WVDCR FY2025 Annual Report |
| Historic design capacity | 362 design capacity, originally designed for 300 | West Virginia Blue Book 2015-2016 |
| Admissions for Southern Regional Jail on inspection date | 8 | WV Daily Incarcerations, July 2, 2026 |
| Counties served by Southern Regional Jail | 7 | WVDCR facility page |
| Statewide incarceration rate | 674 per 100,000 residents across all systems | Prison Policy Initiative West Virginia profile, accessed July 2026 |
Fayette County Jail Population Trends
Available trend data is strongest for the facility and the state, not for a standalone Fayette County jail count. Southern Regional Jail was built in 1994, the same year the old Fayette County Jail closed as a detention facility. Historical capacity sources show the regional jail was designed smaller than the current FY2025 rated population. That does not prove current overcrowding, but it does show that capacity references can differ by year and source.
Statewide context matters because Fayette County jail custody is part of West Virginia's regional jail structure. The Vera Institute profile cited in the research reports that West Virginia's jail population rose sharply over the long term, including a 303 percent increase since 1970 and a 54 percent increase since 2000. It also reported that pretrial detainees made up 53 percent of West Virginia's jail population in 2015. Those statewide figures should not be treated as a current Southern Regional Jail count, but they explain why pretrial jail data and bond decisions are important to local users.
| Year or Source | Southern Regional or Related Metric | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Facility built, with older Blue Book noting formal opening on June 26, 1994 | History and regional-jail transition |
| 2015-2016 Blue Book | Design capacity 362, original design 300 | Historic capacity context |
| FY2025 WVDCR | Rated population 468 | Current official rated population |
| July 2, 2026 Daily Incarcerations | 8 admissions for Southern Regional Jail that day | Daily admissions, not total population |
Who Makes Up Fayette County Custody
The official public sources did not provide a Fayette County-only demographic table for sex, race, age, charge level, length of stay, or pretrial share. WVDCR does describe the categories of people Southern Regional Jail holds. The facility population includes pretrial misdemeanants and felons, sentenced misdemeanants and felons, and federal detainees under the U.S. Marshals contract. A single daily admissions list may show birth date and gender for people admitted that day, but that is not a valid demographic profile of the entire jail.
- Pretrial detainees: people held before final court disposition or before bond is posted.
- Sentenced jail inmates: people serving misdemeanor or felony jail time through the regional jail system.
- State prisoners: sentenced people who move into WVDCR prison or parole status and are searched in the prison locator.
- Federal detainees: people held for federal court or the U.S. Marshals Service, sometimes at Southern Regional Jail.
Fayette County Inmate Data Law
West Virginia public-records law supplies the access path when a roster or daily admissions page does not answer the question. WV Code Section 29B-1-1 states the public policy that people are entitled to information about government affairs and official acts unless a law says otherwise. WV Code Section 29B-1-3 gives the right to inspect or copy public records and requires a response as soon as practicable, with a five-business-day outside limit. WV Code Section 29B-1-4 keeps a presumption of public access while listing exemptions.
Access rule: jail booking data is usually requested from the record custodian. For Fayette County custody, that may mean WVDCR or Southern Regional Jail for jail records, the arresting agency for incident reports, and magistrate or circuit court for filed charges.
Correctional standards also shape the public context. WV Code Section 25-5-11 addresses correctional-facility staffing, supervision, security, operations, programs, and transport standards. WV Code Section 25-1A-1 defines correctional terms, including inmate, for West Virginia correctional law.
Search Fayette County Current Inmates
Current Fayette County jail lookup starts with the WV Regional Jail Offender Search. The name search is the direct route for a person who may be in current regional jail custody. The separate Daily Incarcerations page is useful for same-day admissions by county or institution. WVDCR warns that roster data can change quickly and that court records should be checked for the underlying criminal action.
The WV regional jail search form is the right starting point for most Fayette County inmate population searches tied to current jail custody.
The form uses a last-name search, so spelling variants and common surnames may require extra checks against the court file or jail phone line.
- Open the WV Regional Jail Offender Search.
- Enter at least the first three letters of the last name.
- Add the first name when the last name is common.
- Confirm that the listed facility is Southern Regional Jail or another explained custody location.
- Use Daily Incarcerations if the booking happened today.
- Check court records, WVDCR prison search, VINE, or FOIA if the person no longer appears.
Fayette County Roster Search Fields
The roster search fields are simple, but they matter. The last-name field is required, and WVDCR instructs users to enter at least three letters. First name is optional and helps narrow common names. The daily admissions path can be approached by county or by institution, which helps separate a Fayette County admission from a Raleigh or Greenbrier County admission at the same regional jail.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name, partial or full | Text | Yes | Enter at least the first three letters of the last name. |
| First Name | Text | No | Use it to narrow results when several people share a surname. |
| County | Daily admissions selector | No | Select Fayette when using the county admissions path. |
| Institution | Daily admissions institution link | No | Choose Southern Regional Jail when searching the facility admissions list. |
Fayette County Inmate Record Fields
The captured Daily Incarcerations summary for Southern Regional Jail on July 2, 2026 showed admission time, last name, first name, middle name, birth date, gender, and a View Details link. It did not show charges, bond, housing unit, arresting agency, court date, release status, or mugshot in the summary text. WVDCR's disclaimer says location, release date, status, and other information can change quickly, so a record should be verified before a visit, bond trip, or court filing decision.
| Visible Field | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Admission time | The time shown on the daily admissions list for the facility and date. |
| Name fields | Last, first, and middle name columns used to identify the admission. |
| Birth date | A date of birth field used to distinguish people with similar names. |
| Gender | The gender value visible on the admissions summary. |
| View Details | A profile link was present, but full profile fields were not confirmed in the text capture. |
Fayette County Jail vs Prison
A jail roster and a prison locator answer different questions. Southern Regional Jail is the local and regional jail path for Fayette County arrests, court orders, and short-term custody. The WVDCR prison and supervision search is for people under active supervision, in prison, or on parole. The prison search is not a released-person archive, and DCR says discharged people do not appear.
| Custody Stage | Where to Look | Important Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Pretrial or recent jail admission | WV Regional Jail Offender Search or Daily Incarcerations | Data can change quickly. |
| Sentenced state prisoner | WVDCR prison/supervision search | Covers active prison, parole, or supervision status only. |
| Federal prisoner after commitment | BOP Inmate Locator | Covers federal inmates from 1982 to present. |
| Immigration custody | ICE Online Detainee Locator System | Not a county jail roster or mugshot search. |
Fayette County Custody Channels
The access-channel chain should move from the fastest public search to the custodian that can verify the record. Start online with WVDCR for current jail custody. Call Southern Regional Jail when the online result is unclear, when a visit is planned, or when bond and release timing may have changed. Use WV FOIA for historical booking records, booking-photo questions, or records not shown in the public system. For charges and dispositions, use court records rather than roster text.
- Booking
- Administrative intake after arrest, including identification, property, screening, and classification.
- Detainer
- A hold or request from another agency that may prevent release even after local bond is set.
- Remand
- A court order returning or keeping a person in custody.
- Personal recognizance
- Release based on a promise to appear, often with court conditions.
Fayette County Detention Facility
Only one detention facility appears in this project's Facility Map. Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility is the primary jail serving Fayette County adults, even though the building is in Raleigh County. It also serves six other counties, so facility-level admissions or institution searches can include people who do not have Fayette County cases.
- Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility holds pretrial and sentenced jail populations from Fayette, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Wyoming, Summers, Mercer, and Monroe counties, plus federal detainees under U.S. Marshals contract.
Fayette County Court and Mugshot Paths
Roster information and court information should not be merged. A booking entry may reflect the arrest allegation and custody status. A court record shows the complaint, information, indictment, bond order, charge status, and disposition. Use the court records after a jail arrest page when the question is what charge was filed or what happened in magistrate or circuit court.
Booking photos require the same care. The research did not confirm that the text-accessible Southern Regional Jail daily admissions summary displayed mugshots. The Fayette County jail mugshots page explains the public-records request route, FOIA limits, and why federal and ICE locators are not mugshot galleries.
Fayette County Inmate Population FAQ
How is the Fayette County inmate population searched? Current jail custody is searched through WV Regional Jail Offender Search. Same-day admissions can also be checked through Daily Incarcerations by Fayette County or by Southern Regional Jail.
Does Fayette County have its own jail? Not for ordinary adult detention in the records reviewed. Fayette County uses Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility for people incarcerated after arrest or court order.
Is the rated population a live head count? No. The FY2025 rated population of 468 is a facility capacity figure. The public daily page showed admissions for a date, not the full live population.
Where are sentenced inmates searched? A sentenced person who has moved into WVDCR prison or parole status should be searched through the state prison/supervision locator, not the regional jail roster.
Are federal detainees part of the jail population? Southern Regional Jail can hold federal detainees under U.S. Marshals contract, but federal custody questions may also require the U.S. Marshals or BOP locator depending on case stage.
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