The Lincoln County Inmate Population
Lincoln County does not operate a separate county jail. People arrested in Lincoln County who need jail custody are usually held at Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility in Barboursville. The jail is operated by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Bureau of Prisons and Jails. It serves Cabell, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam, and Wayne counties, so the published jail count is a regional facility count rather than a Lincoln-only count.
That distinction matters for both population data and inmate lookup. A current Lincoln County jail inmate may appear in the West Virginia Regional Jail search or in Daily Incarcerations under Lincoln County. A sentenced person may leave the jail category and appear in the WVDCR prison locator. Federal and immigration custody use separate systems. The best reading of the Lincoln County inmate population is therefore a custody map: local arrest, regional jail booking, court action, and possible transfer after sentencing.
Lincoln County Inmate Population Statistics
The most useful official figures are facility-level figures for Western Regional Jail. The WVDCR FY2025 Annual Report lists a rated population of 576 for Western Regional Jail. The 2025 PREA audit for the same facility lists a designed capacity of 591, a current population of 598, and a 12-month average daily population of 598. Those numbers should not be described as a Lincoln County-only jail population because the jail houses five counties.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Western Regional Jail rated population | 576 | WVDCR FY2025 Annual Report |
| Designed facility capacity | 591 | Western Regional Jail 2025 PREA audit |
| Current population at audit | 598 | Western Regional Jail 2025 PREA audit |
| 12-month average daily population | 598 | Western Regional Jail 2025 PREA audit |
| Lincoln County population estimate | 19,177 | U.S. Census QuickFacts, July 1, 2025 |
The official Lincoln County homepage gives local context for the county seat in Hamlin and the county's southwestern West Virginia location. That background helps explain why a Lincoln County jail search leads outside the county line. The jail that serves Lincoln County is in Cabell County, while the sheriff, magistrate court, circuit clerk, prosecutor, and courthouse contacts remain in Hamlin.
Lincoln County Jail Capacity
Western Regional Jail is one of West Virginia's larger regional jails. The 2025 PREA audit reports 32 housing units, maximum custody level, both men and women in the population designation, and an adult age range of 18 to 99. It also reports that the facility was over capacity at some point in the prior 12 months. The difference between the annual report's 576 rated population and the PREA audit's 591 designed capacity should be left with its source labels because each document uses a different capacity term.
| Report | Population or capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 WVDCR Annual Report | 576 rated population | Facility section for Western Regional Jail |
| 2025 PREA audit | 591 designed capacity | Facility-capacity figure for Western Regional Jail |
| 2025 PREA audit | 598 current population and 598 ADP | Facility-level population across all served counties |
The WVDCR FY2025 report also describes systemwide modernization work, including replacement of aging electronic security systems across regional jail and correctional facilities. Western Regional Jail is part of the regional jail system affected by those statewide facility projects. Those reports are useful for population context, but they do not replace the live jail roster for current custody.
Laws for Lincoln County Jail Custody
West Virginia law explains why the Lincoln County inmate population is housed through a regional jail. West Virginia Code §15A-3-16 provides that once a regional jail is available, counties in that region incarcerate county jail prisoners in the regional jail. West Virginia Code §25-5-11 sets standards of operation for regional jails. Public access to nonexempt agency records flows through West Virginia FOIA, Chapter 29B.
Key Statutes: §29B-1-3 gives the public a right to inspect or copy nonexempt public records with reasonable specificity. §29B-1-4 lists exemptions that may affect law-enforcement, privacy, juvenile, or sensitive records. §62-1-6A limits some law-enforcement social-media sharing of booking photos for alleged minor offenses.
Search the Lincoln County Inmate Population
The official jail lookup path is the WV Regional Jail Offender Search and the Daily Incarcerations page. The name search works best when the last name is known. Daily Incarcerations works best for a current county-level list. Both public forms use reCAPTCHA, so a searcher must complete the browser challenge before results load.
- Open the WVDCR offender-search hub and choose jail offender search or Daily Incarcerations.
- For a name search, enter at least the first three letters of the last name and add the first name if known.
- For a county list, choose Lincoln from the Daily Incarcerations county dropdown.
- Compare names, ages, charges, facility, and arresting agency when several results look similar.
- If the person is sentenced, search the WVDCR prison locator instead of the jail roster.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Name | Text | Yes | At least the first three letters, maximum 100 characters. |
| First Name | Text | No | Optional field to narrow common names. |
| County | Dropdown | Yes on Daily Incarcerations | Select Lincoln for the county-level jail list. |
| reCAPTCHA | Challenge | Yes | Required before public results submit. |
Lincoln County Inmate Record Fields
A current jail record is a custody record, not a final court judgment. WVDCR warns that public jail information may change quickly and may not reflect true current location, release date, status, or sentencing detail. Charges on a booking record can differ from court charges after prosecutor review. For court status, hearing dates, and dispositions, check Magistrate Record Search, WVPASS, or the clerk that holds the case.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Name | Identity used in the jail or prison search result. |
| Facility | Current jail or prison location, expected to be Western Regional Jail for many Lincoln jail inmates. |
| Booking or admission date | When jail intake or prison admission was recorded, if shown. |
| Charges or offenses | Booking allegations or sentence entries, not proof of conviction by itself. |
| Bond or hold | Release conditions or another agency hold when public. |
| Status | Custody, release, transfer, parole, or supervision status when available. |
Lincoln County Custody Lookup Channels
Different custody systems answer different questions. A person arrested in Lincoln County may be booked into Western Regional Jail, but a sentenced prisoner may move into the WVDCR prison search. A federal defendant may be under the U.S. Marshals or the Bureau of Prisons. An immigration detainee may be searchable through ICE ODLS. VINELink adds custody and case notification, but it is not the same as the official jail roster.
| Custody type | Official channel | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Regional jail | WV Regional Jail Offender Search and Daily Incarcerations | Current pretrial and jail-sentence custody |
| State prison or parole | WVDCR prison offender search | Sentenced prison, parole, or active WVDCR supervision |
| Notifications | West Virginia VINELink | Custody or criminal case notification signups |
| Federal custody | BOP inmate locator | Federal inmates from 1982 to present |
| Immigration custody | ICE Online Detainee Locator System | Current ICE custody or CBP custody over 48 hours |
The official West Virginia VINELink entry page is a separate notification resource for custody and case updates.
Lincoln County Court Records After Booking
The Lincoln County inmate population changes as court decisions change. A person can enter Western Regional Jail after arrest, leave after a recognizance release or bond, remain on a hold, or move to state prison after sentencing. Court records give the strongest source for that legal path. Magistrate Court handles many initial appearances, misdemeanor cases, warrants, and preliminary felony steps. Circuit Court is the court of general jurisdiction for felony proceedings and other matters that move beyond magistrate handling.
The Lincoln County Circuit Clerk page says the clerk files court orders and other lawsuit records into permanent record books and tracks enforcement of orders, fines, penalties, judgments, and verdicts. It also says records date back to about 1920 after the courthouse burned. The Prosecuting Attorney page identifies Jeff Bowen as prosecuting attorney and Jennifer Anderson as assistant prosecuting attorney, which is the local office involved when the state prosecutes criminal charges after arrest.
The official court and prosecutor pages help separate a jail population question from a court-record question.
Lincoln County Detention Facilities
The Facility Map identifies one detention facility serving Lincoln County jail custody. No state prison, federal prison, ICE detention center, or U.S. Marshals contract facility was located physically inside Lincoln County from the official source checks. Community corrections and home confinement contacts exist in Hamlin, but they are not detention facilities and do not get facility pages.
- Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility holds pretrial felony and misdemeanor detainees and sentenced jail inmates for Cabell, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam, and Wayne counties.
The official Lincoln County homepage is useful for courthouse routing and local office contacts.
Lincoln County Jail Records Requests
When the online jail roster does not answer the question, a written public-records request should go to the office that keeps the record. WVDCR or Western Regional Jail is the better route for jail-created custody and booking records. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is the better route for incident reports, sheriff arrest paperwork, and local law-enforcement records. Magistrate Court and Circuit Court clerks are the route for complaints, docket entries, orders, and case copies.
West Virginia FOIA requests should identify the person, date, agency, case number if known, and the exact item sought. A request for "all records" may be harder for a custodian to process than a request for a booking record, arrest report, incident report, booking photo, charging complaint, or bond order. Court document copies are usually handled through the clerk instead of a jail FOIA request.
Lincoln County Inmate Population FAQ
Is there a Lincoln County Jail?
No standalone county jail was identified in Hamlin. Lincoln County jail custody is handled by Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility in Barboursville, a WVDCR regional jail serving five counties.
How large is the Lincoln County inmate population?
Official sources did not publish a Lincoln-only jail ADP. The best sourced figures are for Western Regional Jail as a whole: 598 average daily population in the 2025 PREA audit and 576 rated population in the WVDCR FY2025 Annual Report.
Where are sentenced Lincoln County prisoners searched?
Once a person moves from regional jail custody to state prison or supervision, use the WVDCR prison offender search. The jail roster is mainly for current regional jail custody.