Central Regional Jail Inmate Lookup

Central Regional Jail Overview

Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility is a West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation facility, not a sheriff-run county jail. The operator is WVDCR's Bureau of Prisons and Jails. The facility sits in Braxton County near Flatwoods and Sutton, just off Interstate 79. It serves Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Lewis, Nicholas, Roane, and Webster counties, so the people held there are not limited to Braxton County arrests.

WVDCR describes Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility as detention for pretrial felons and misdemeanants and sentenced felons and misdemeanants. That mix is important. A person recently arrested in Braxton County may appear in the regional jail search while awaiting a first appearance or bond decision. A person sentenced in circuit court may later move into the WVDCR prison system and disappear from the jail roster. The right lookup depends on custody stage.

The official WVDCR Central Regional Jail page identifies the facility, lists counties served, and posts the non-contact visitation schedule.

The official facility page is the strongest source for location, phone, superintendent, directions, and posted visit slots because the jail is managed by the state regional jail system.

Central Regional Jail Population

WVDCR's FY2025 annual report lists Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility with a rated population of 312 and an average daily population of 351. Older WV Regional Jail Authority reporting from FY2018 listed total bed capacity at 345 after original design capacity, added bunks, and stackable bunks. The current build should rely on the FY2025 rated population, while treating the older 345-bed figure as historical context.

FY2025 Central Regional Jail population details show a broad custody mix: 86 DOC offenders, 12 federal pretrial detainees, 7 federal sentenced detainees, 39 pretrial misdemeanants, 24 convicted misdemeanants, 151 pretrial felons, and 32 convicted felons. The same report lists 76 female detainees and 275 male detainees. Those numbers describe the Central Regional population, not a Braxton-only jail population.

Look Up Central Regional Inmates

Current jail custody is searched through the official WV Regional Jail Offender Search. That is the correct route for people held at Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility after a Braxton County arrest or while serving a jail sentence. The search is state-hosted and requires at least the first three letters of the last name plus reCAPTCHA. The WV Daily Incarcerations page is useful for daily admissions by county or institution, but it is not the same as a full population count.

1. Open the WV Regional Jail Offender Search for current regional jail custody.
2. Enter at least three letters of the last name. Add the first name when the last name is common.
3. Complete reCAPTCHA and review whether the result shows Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility.
4. If there is no jail result, check Daily Incarcerations, then use the WVDCR prison search for a sentenced or transferred person.
5. Use court searches for filed charges, bond orders, hearings, and dispositions because roster charge text is not the court case file.

The WVDCR search warns that information can change quickly and may not reflect true current location, release date, status, or other offender information. For a sentenced person under active WVDCR prison or parole supervision, use the WVDCR prison and supervision search. For custody notifications, West Virginia VINELink is available as a notification channel.

Central Regional Jail Contact

Use the main facility phone for jail custody, visitation, mail, account, and facility-status questions. The Braxton County Sheriff can make arrests and maintain local law-enforcement records, but the sheriff is not the jail operator. Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility handles intake, housing, visits, inmate mail, phone/video access, and trust account routing under WVDCR rules.

WVDCR lists Harvey Hawkins as superintendent in the FY2025 material and on the facility page. The jail is near I-79 Exit 67 in the Flatwoods area. WVDCR directions route visitors uphill past the Days Inn after leaving the interstate. No official public transit route, visitor parking rate, or Central-specific accessible entrance instructions were located, so travel details should be confirmed before leaving.

Visit Central Regional Jail

Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility uses non-contact visitation. The facility page states that all visits will be scheduled by inmates. The public page gives visit slots by day but does not list visitor ID rules, dress code, lockers, arrival time, cancellation rules, or child visitor rules. Call the facility before traveling because lockdowns, court movement, staffing, or security needs can change a posted schedule.

Central Jail Mail and Money

WVDCR uses a central mail process. Mail must include the inmate's first and last name, the OID number, and the full facility name without abbreviations. The mailing address uses PO Box 336 in Phoenix, Maryland. Sender information must include the sender's complete first and last name and full return address. WVDCR mail rules allow handwritten or typed letters and prohibit photographs, multiple offenders in one envelope, attachments, and enclosures in scanned letter mail.

ConnectNetwork's WVDCR facility page lists Central Regional and shows the available services for deposits and AdvancePay.

The research did not locate a Central Regional commissary menu, order limit, or official fee schedule, so no commissary price or deposit fee should be assumed from unofficial sources.

Booking at Central Regional Jail

For Braxton County arrests, booking normally routes through Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility because West Virginia uses a regional jail system. WVDCR policies cover admission procedures, inmate photographs and identification cards, property, health screenings, mental-health screenings, suicide prevention, classification, housing assignment, mail, telephone usage, visitation, grievances, and release processes. Public sources did not identify specific pod names or local booking-desk hours.

Booking

The jail intake step where identity, custody reason, fingerprints, photo, property, and initial record data are created.

Classification

The WVDCR process for assigning security level, housing, and supervision needs inside the jail.

Detainer

A hold or request from another agency, such as another county, parole authority, federal authority, or immigration officials.

Pretrial

Custody before conviction or final case disposition.

After booking, court activity usually moves through magistrate court first, then circuit court for felony bind-over, information, indictment, plea, trial, or sentencing matters. Jail records and court records answer different questions. The roster is for custody status; the court file is for filed charges and case outcomes.

Central Regional Counties Served

Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility serves eight counties: Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Lewis, Nicholas, Roane, and Webster. This regional role explains why a person in the building may not have a Braxton County court case. The jail is physically in Braxton County, but court filings, warrants, bond orders, and clerk copies follow the county or court that created the case.

About Central Regional Jail

Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility opened on February 22, 1993. WVDCR describes it as the prototype of the podular design used throughout West Virginia's regional jail system. That history is useful because Braxton County does not have a separate sheriff-run jail. The regional jail is the public custody point for booking, roster search, visits, mail, money, and jail information.

The Central Regional resource guide lists statewide and county resources, including WV 211, Help4WV, Alcoholics Anonymous, WV Medicaid, suicide prevention resources, Narcotics Anonymous, domestic violence resources, Workforce WV, and Braxton County Health Department and DHHR contacts. The guide states that the facility does not promote or advocate a particular licensed agency or individual.