Where a ticket, criminal charge, divorce, or lawsuit from Wellsburg, Follansbee, Bethany, Beech Bottom, or the Brooke County side of Weirton is heard. A plain-language guide from Cline & Singh, a Weirton law firm.
Brooke County keeps nearly all of its courts under one roof: the Brooke County Judicial Center at 620 Main Street in Wellsburg houses the magistrate court, the circuit court and circuit clerk, and the family court. City and town courts in Wellsburg, Follansbee, and the smaller communities handle tickets written by their own officers.
Magistrate court handles misdemeanor charges, traffic tickets written by the State Police and county deputies, the first appearances, bond, and preliminary hearings in felony cases, civil claims of up to $10,000, and personal safety orders. Magistrates can also issue emergency protective orders when the family court is closed.
Circuit court handles felony cases, larger civil cases (including most personal injury lawsuits), abuse and neglect cases, adoptions, name changes, adult guardianships and conservatorships, and appeals from magistrate and municipal court.
Family court handles divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, paternity, and the final hearings in domestic violence protective order cases. Divorce and custody cases are opened by filing with the county’s circuit clerk.
State Police and Brooke County Sheriff’s tickets from anywhere in the county, including WV-2 between Weirton and Wheeling, generally go to Brooke County Magistrate Court in the Judicial Center. Arrests in the county are first brought before a magistrate here, and most misdemeanor cases are resolved here.
Brooke County is part of the First Judicial Circuit with Hancock and Ohio counties. Felony cases, injury lawsuits, adoptions, name changes, and abuse and neglect cases are heard in circuit court, and divorce and custody cases are opened with the circuit clerk.
Brooke County Family Court is on the third floor of the Judicial Center. It is one of the courts of the First Family Court Circuit, which also serves Hancock and Ohio counties, so families from Weirton, Wellsburg, and Follansbee are often in this building for divorce, custody, support, and protective order hearings.
Tickets written by a city or town’s own officers for violations of its ordinances generally go to that municipality’s court. Tickets written by the State Police or a Brooke County deputy go to magistrate court, even when the stop happened inside town limits.
Bethany and Beech Bottom are small communities, but tickets still come out of both. Bethany is home to Bethany College, and many drivers ticketed there are students with Ohio, Pennsylvania, or other out-of-state licenses; a moving violation can affect a parent’s insurance policy as well as the student’s. Beech Bottom sits on WV-2 south of Wellsburg, where through-traffic between Wellsburg and Wheeling has to slow down. For either, the citation says which court has the case. If it was written by the State Police or a county deputy, it goes to magistrate court in Wellsburg.
Brooke County is a short drive from our Weirton office, and we are regularly in the Judicial Center for criminal, traffic, family, and protective order cases.
Brooke County’s courts are in the Brooke County Judicial Center at 620 Main Street in Wellsburg, which houses the magistrate court, circuit court and circuit clerk, and family court.
If a city or town officer wrote it for a local ordinance violation, it goes to that municipality’s court. If the State Police or a Brooke County deputy wrote it, it generally goes to Brooke County Magistrate Court in Wellsburg. The court is printed on the citation.
With the Brooke County Circuit Clerk in the Judicial Center in Wellsburg. It is heard in Brooke County Family Court, on the third floor of the same building.
The West Virginia Judiciary offers an online magistrate court record search. For circuit and family court files, contact the Brooke County Circuit Clerk at (304) 737-3662.
Both of our attorneys were raised in the Northern Panhandle and appear regularly in its courts. We offer phone and video consultations for clients who would rather not make the drive to Weirton.
This page is general information about local courts, not legal advice, and Cline & Singh is a private law firm, not affiliated with any court. Court locations, phone numbers, and schedules can change; your citation or court paperwork controls, and the clerk can confirm the details.
Talk with us before your first court date. Consultations are free. Call (304) 919-2912 or (304) 919-2119, or send us a message.