Raleigh County Inmate Population Overview
Raleigh County does not publish a county-only jail census from a sheriff-operated jail. The main local arrest facility is Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility, a West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation facility in Beaver. That makes the Raleigh County inmate population different from a county jail count in states where the sheriff runs a single jail. Southern Regional Jail holds people from Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming Counties, and the WVDCR FY2025 annual report also says it houses U.S. Marshals Service detainees by contract.
The most useful population number is therefore the Southern Regional Jail facility count, not a pure Raleigh-only head count. In FY2025 WVDCR listed Southern Regional Jail with an average daily count of 542 and a rated population of 468. Those figures describe the regional jail serving Raleigh County and six other counties. A person arrested in Beckley or another Raleigh County community may appear in the same facility population as a person from Mercer or Wyoming County. The custody path can also change after court action: a pretrial detainee may stay in Southern Regional Jail, a sentenced person may move to WVDCR prison or community corrections, and a federal sentenced person belongs in the BOP system.
The WVDCR offender search hub is the starting point for official jail, prison, daily incarceration, and absconder searches.
The hub matters because Raleigh County custody can move between a regional jail, a state prison locator, and other correctional channels.
Raleigh County Inmate Population Statistics
The FY2025 annual report is the strongest source for current regional jail population figures. It reports Southern Regional Jail's rated population, average daily count, admissions, releases, and custody mix. The same source places the Raleigh County inmate population inside a larger regional jail system, so the figures should be read as facility data for the jail that serves Raleigh County rather than a Raleigh-only census. That distinction is important for case searches, bond checks, and calls to the jail.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Regional Jail rated population | 468 | WVDCR FY2025 annual report |
| Southern Regional Jail average daily count | 542 | WVDCR FY2025 annual report |
| Southern Regional Jail admissions | 4,976 | WVDCR FY2025 annual report |
| Southern Regional Jail releases | 4,760 | WVDCR FY2025 annual report |
| Average daily count vs. rated population | About 116% | Computed from FY2025 WVDCR figures |
| All West Virginia regional jail average daily count | 4,882 | WVDCR FY2025 annual report |
Raleigh County Jail Population Trends
Admissions at Southern Regional Jail declined from FY2022 through FY2024, then stayed nearly flat in FY2025. Releases increased from FY2024 to FY2025, but they remained below admissions for the year. These totals do not isolate Raleigh County arrests from other counties served by Southern Regional Jail. They still show the workload at the facility that receives most Raleigh County jail bookings.
| Fiscal year | Admissions | Releases | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | 5,940 | 5,454 | Highest admissions in the four-year set. |
| FY2023 | 5,362 | 4,915 | Admissions fell from FY2022. |
| FY2024 | 4,967 | 4,574 | Lower admissions and releases than prior years. |
| FY2025 | 4,976 | 4,760 | Admissions were nearly flat; releases rose. |
Raleigh County Custody Mix
Southern Regional Jail's FY2025 custody mix shows why a simple jail roster result can be hard to read. The jail population includes pretrial misdemeanors, pretrial felons, convicted misdemeanors, convicted felons, DCR inmates, and federal pretrial detainees. A pretrial detainee is held before final case disposition. A convicted inmate is held after a plea, verdict, or sentence. A federal pretrial detainee may be physically housed at Southern Regional Jail while the federal case is handled elsewhere.
- DCR inmates: 133 total, including 9 female and 124 male inmates.
- Federal pretrial: 15 total, including 3 female and 12 male detainees.
- Pretrial misdemeanors: 62 total, including 12 female and 50 male detainees.
- Convicted misdemeanors: 29 total, including 2 female and 27 male inmates.
- Pretrial felons: 247 total, the largest reported category.
- Convicted felons: 56 total, including 5 female and 51 male inmates.
Statewide FY2025 adult jail admissions add useful context. WVDCR reported 36,461 admissions and 34,926 releases across all West Virginia regional jails. The statewide adult jail admissions table listed more male admissions than female admissions and reported age groups from under 20 through 70 and older. Those statewide figures should not be treated as Raleigh County demographics, but they help explain the broader regional jail system that Southern Regional Jail belongs to.
Raleigh County Jail Capacity Law
West Virginia public-record and corrections statutes set the rules for access, operation, and limits on what may be released. They do not make every jail detail public. They do support requests to the record custodian and explain why some jail records, law-enforcement records, and correctional-security details can be withheld.
Key statutes:
W. Va. Code §29B-1-1 states West Virginia's policy favoring public information about government affairs unless law provides otherwise.
W. Va. Code §29B-1-3 gives people the right to inspect or copy public records from the record custodian.
W. Va. Code §29B-1-4 lists exemptions, including some investigative, privacy, and correctional-security records.
W. Va. Code §25-5-11 addresses standards for covered prison facilities, including staffing, health care, mail, telephones, visitation, and sanitation.
The 542 average daily count against a 468 rated population is the key capacity point in the FY2025 source. It means Southern Regional Jail averaged above rated population that year. Recent public reporting also placed Southern Regional Jail in a broader state discussion about staffing, conditions, litigation, and facility oversight, but the current population table is the sourced measure used for capacity on these pages.
Search Raleigh County Inmate Records
The official jail lookup for Raleigh County arrests is the WV Regional Jail offender search. It covers regional jail custody, including Southern Regional Jail. The search requires at least the first three letters of the last name. First name is optional and helps narrow common names. WVDCR warns that location, release date, status, and sentencing information can change quickly, so court records remain the source for the final criminal case record.
The Daily Incarcerations page is useful for new bookings. It can be searched by county or by institution. On July 2, 2026, the public daily page showed an admissions list for Southern Regional Jail with admission time, last name, first name, middle name, birth date, gender, and a View Details link. The static capture did not expose a full detail profile, so the visible fields should be treated as an admissions summary, not a complete jail record.
The WV Regional Jail offender search page shows the name fields used for a Raleigh County jail roster search.
The required last-name field makes partial spelling and first-name narrowing useful when the person has a common surname.
- Open the WVDCR offender search hub and choose Offender Search for Jails.
- Enter at least the first three letters of the person's last name.
- Add the first name if the result list is too broad.
- Use Daily Incarcerations for same-day Raleigh County or Southern Regional Jail admissions.
- If the person has been sentenced to prison, switch to the WVDCR prison search.
- If federal or immigration custody is involved, use BOP or ICE channels instead of the jail roster.
Raleigh County Roster Search Fields
The jail roster search is narrow by design. It starts with a name and then routes the user to matching jail records if the person is in a searchable regional jail record. The daily page works differently because it groups admissions by county or institution and is better for a same-day custody check.
| Tool | Field Label | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| WV Regional Jail offender search | Last Name, partial or full | Yes | Enter at least the first three letters. |
| WV Regional Jail offender search | First Name | No | Optional narrowing field. |
| Daily Incarcerations | County | Yes | Select Raleigh for county-based admissions. |
| Daily Incarcerations | Institution | Alternative path | Select Southern Regional Jail for facility admissions. |
Raleigh County Inmate Record Fields
A Southern Regional Jail daily admissions entry is not the same as a complete court file. The visible list fields from the July 2, 2026 capture were basic custody identifiers. WVDCR's own disclaimer says sentencing information should not be used as the final record of a criminal case. Use the jail record to confirm custody and use the court record to verify charges, bond orders, dispositions, and sentencing.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Admission time | Time shown for the same-day Southern Regional Jail admission list. |
| Name | Last, first, and middle name shown in separate columns. |
| Birth date | Date of birth shown on the admissions list. |
| Gender | Male or female values appeared in the inspected examples. |
| Inmate details | View Details link shown, but full static profile was not retrievable in research. |
| Mugshot, charge, bond, housing | Not visible in the static admissions-list capture. |
Raleigh County Jail vs Prison
Search routing depends on the person's legal and custody status. Southern Regional Jail is the main regional jail for Raleigh County arrests. Beckley Correctional Center and Jail is a WVDCR minimum-security community corrections facility with work release and RSAT functions. FCI Beckley is a federal Bureau of Prisons institution and does not use the West Virginia jail roster.
| Custody type | Where to look | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Regional jail custody | WV Regional Jail offender search and Daily Incarcerations | Pretrial and sentenced jail inmates at Southern Regional Jail. |
| State prison, parole, active supervision | WVDCR prison offender search | Active WVDCR prison, parole, or supervision records. |
| Federal sentenced custody | BOP Inmate Locator | Federal inmates, including people at FCI Beckley. |
| Immigration custody | ICE Online Detainee Locator System | Immigration detainees by A-number or biographical search. |
Raleigh County Detention Facilities
Raleigh County has three detention facility records in the research because the custody systems are split. The primary jail is Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility. The local community corrections facility is Beckley Correctional Center and Jail. The federal prison is FCI Beckley. Each has a different operator and search path.
The official Southern Regional Jail page identifies the Raleigh County arrest-custody facility, its service area, directions, and visitation basics.
The official facility page helps separate the regional jail from the sheriff's office, the courthouse, and the federal prison in Beaver.
- Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility holds regional jail detainees and sentenced jail inmates for Raleigh and six other counties, plus some U.S. Marshals Service detainees.
- Beckley Correctional Center and Jail is a WVDCR minimum-security work-release and RSAT facility with conflicting official capacity figures of 137 and 109.
- Federal Correctional Institution Beckley is a BOP medium-security federal prison with an adjacent minimum-security camp.
Raleigh County Inmate Population FAQ
Is the Southern Regional Jail count the Raleigh County inmate population? It is the best available facility count for the jail serving Raleigh County, but it is not Raleigh-only. Southern Regional Jail serves seven counties and houses some federal detainees by contract.
Where does a Raleigh County inmate search start? Start with the WV Regional Jail offender search for ordinary jail custody. Use Daily Incarcerations for new bookings and the WVDCR prison search for sentenced state custody.
Who is the Raleigh County sheriff? The sheriff is Frank Priddy. The sheriff's office is a law-enforcement and records contact, but the jail roster is run through WVDCR.
Are court charges the same as jail roster charges? No. Jail data is custody data. Court records show the complaint, information, indictment, bond orders, and final case action.
Does VINE replace the jail roster? No. West Virginia VINE is for custody-status notifications. It is useful for alerts, not for pulling full records.