W. Va. Code § 50-2-3

This is the official text of W. Va. Code § 50-2-3, part of West Virginia’s Va. Code — part of the compiled statutory law of West Virginia, published by the state as "Va. Code." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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§50-2-3. Criminal jurisdiction; limitations on bail.

Official statutory text

In addition to jurisdiction granted elsewhere to magistrate courts, magistrate courts shall have jurisdiction of all misdemeanor offenses committed in the county and to conduct preliminary examinations on warrants charging felonies committed within the county and, upon order of referral from the circuit courts, to conduct preliminary examinations on probation violations, which examinations shall be conducted without delay and in all events not later than thirty days from the date any probation violation petition or motion has been filed in circuit court. A magistrate shall have the authority to issue arrest warrants in all criminal matters, to issue warrants for search and seizure and, except in cases involving capital offenses, to set and admit to bail: Provided, That in cases punishable only by the fine such bail or recognizance shall not exceed the maximum amount of the fine and applicable court costs permitted or authorized by statute to be imposed in the event of conviction.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.