Potomac Highlands Release Destinations
Potomac Highlands Regional Jail and Correctional Facility, often shortened to PHRJCF, is operated by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It serves Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, and Pendleton Counties. A person arrested in Grant County may therefore appear in a state regional-jail system rather than on a Grant County jail roster. That division of duties matters after custody ends. The Sheriff may hold an arrest or transport record, but WVDCR and PHRJCF normally hold the confinement and release or transfer entry.
The destination controls the meaning of a Potomac Highlands release. Bond, dismissal, time served, misdemeanor expiration, or another valid court order may produce a community release. Probation, home confinement, parole, conditional release, or mandatory supervision may allow the person to leave the secure facility while conditions continue. A move to another DCR unit, a state prison, another regional jail, a medical unit, ICE, USMS, or an outside jurisdiction is a transfer. It is not a community release.
| Recorded outcome | Where verification continues |
|---|---|
| Community release | PHRJCF exit record and the authorizing court or DCR document |
| Probation or home confinement | Grant court order and the responsible local supervising office |
| Parole or conditional release | DCR release record, Parole Board papers, and Parole Services |
| DCR or outside-agency transfer | Receiving facility or agency named in the transfer entry |
Confirm a Potomac Highlands Release
The WVDCR offender-search gateway separates Daily Incarcerations, jail searches, prison searches, and escapee or absconder information. Use the jail channel for a person thought to remain at PHRJCF. It is a current-custody clue, not a historical release archive. DCR warns that fast-changing data may not reflect the true location, release date, or status. A missing name can result from release, transfer, spelling, correction, delay, sealing, or a search problem.
A careful Potomac Highlands release check uses several records because each one answers a different question. The jail entry shows the physical custody event. A signed court order explains bond, dismissal, time served, sentence, or probation. VINE reports an agency-fed custody change. If another agency accepted the person, that agency controls the next status. The full Grant County search and records path is available on the Grant County released inmates search.
- Match the full name with a date of birth, booking or OIS number, case number, and known facility.
- Recheck the WVDCR jail search and note the exact result, access date, and any listed location.
- Review West Virginia VINE for a reported release or transfer event tied to PHRJCF.
- Search both Grant Magistrate and Circuit Court records for the order or docket event.
- Ask PHRJCF for the releasable release or transfer entry, including timestamp and destination.
- If another custodian is named, continue with that system instead of reporting community release.
Potomac Highlands Release Record Fields
There is no single form for every exit. The useful record depends on whether the authority was a court order, sentence expiration, parole paper, home-confinement order, or transfer. Still, a focused request can identify the common facts needed to distinguish a community release from continued custody. Ask for the releasable booking and release or transfer record and give a narrow date range. Include identifiers that reduce the risk of matching the wrong person.
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Booking or OIS number | Connects the request to the correct custody episode |
| Booking and exit date/time | Separates a court event from the later physical exit |
| Case and charge identifiers | Links the facility entry to the right court order |
| Release or disposition code | Describes the administrative type of exit |
| Destination or receiving agency | Shows community release versus transfer |
| Issuing authority | Identifies the court, Board, or DCR record that authorized action |
Policy 457.02 explains why these items matter. Staff process a release in a secure area, confirm identity from file or OIS photographs and other identifiers, then match the name, eligible date, case numbers, and charges to a valid document issued by an authority with jurisdiction. Felony sentence expiration requires a verified discharge certificate from Central Office Records. Misdemeanor expiration uses the OIS calculation. Parole and program releases require their own signed and verified papers.
Potomac Highlands Records Contact
Call the facility for public information about a recent release or transfer and to identify the proper record custodian. No public records hours were documented, so plan to verify availability before travel. Requests for DCR material may use the route in Policy 142.00. West Virginia FOIA calls for a reasonably specific request and a response as soon as practicable, but within five days excluding weekends and legal holidays, unless an exemption applies.
Potomac Highlands Regional Jail and Correctional Facility355 Dolan Drive
Augusta, WV 26704
Phone: 304-496-1275
Fax: 304-496-7591
DCR policy lists copies at $0.15 per one-sided page up to 8.5 by 14 inches, plus actual postal cost, with advance payment. Exempt medical, victim, juvenile, investigative, privacy, or security material may be withheld or redacted. Ask for electronic copies if that format is available. A denial should identify its legal basis. The underlying court order must be requested separately from the court clerk.
For a state-sentence question, request the final time sheet, minimum-discharge or final-release calculation, discharge certificate, and any revisions involving good time. DCR Records is at 1409 Greenbrier Street, Charleston, WV 25311, and the documented number is 304-558-2036. That office is the stronger route when an old discharged record is no longer confirmed in the public search.
Potomac Highlands Release Logistics
PHRJCF publishes no facility-specific release hour or public exit door. A court event may authorize release, but staff still must complete secure identity, date, case, charge, authority, and hold checks. That work means a hearing, bond posting, or parole decision is not a promise of an immediate exit. Call 304-496-1275 before driving to Augusta and ask what public information can be confirmed. Do not base travel on an estimated time supplied by someone outside the facility.
WVDCR transportation policy permits a jail releasee to call family or friends to arrange transportation. The general policy also addresses transportation when lawful release occurs without another arrangement. This has special local importance because PHRJCF is in Hampshire County, not Grant County. The release record may confirm that an exit occurred, while a separate call is needed to coordinate pickup. It does not support publishing a standard hour or gate.
Property and identity steps may also take place before exit. Those administrative tasks do not change the legal release reason, but they help explain why physical departure can follow the authorizing event. When time matters, record the court event and actual facility exit as two distinct facts.
Potomac Highlands Release Volume
The WVDCR FY2024 annual report gives useful context for facility activity. PHRJCF recorded 1,324 admissions and 1,229 releases in FY2024. The prior year showed 1,533 admissions and 1,487 releases. Earlier figures were 1,881 admissions and 1,825 releases in FY2022, followed by 2,005 admissions and 1,842 releases in FY2021. These totals cover the five-county facility and all included populations. They are not Grant County-only counts.
The volume also shows why a precise identifier matters. A request based only on a common name can reach the wrong record. A booking or OIS number, date of birth, case number, and narrow confinement range make the request more useful. Facility totals should never be used to infer that all listed releases involved Grant cases or community exits.
Potomac Highlands Court Transfers
Grant Magistrate Court handles bail, misdemeanors, and early felony proceedings. Grant Circuit Court handles felonies and other general-jurisdiction matters. A case may begin in magistrate court and later appear in circuit court, so both levels may need review. The court controls what it ordered. PHRJCF controls the record of physical exit or transfer.
A docket entry that says bond was posted explains authority in one case, but another warrant or detainer can keep custody in place. Likewise, “time served” describes the disposition of a charge and does not itself establish when a person left the building. Match the signed order to the PHRJCF case identifiers and exit timestamp. If the destination names another DCR unit, ICE, USMS, or another jurisdiction, describe the event as a transfer.
- Community release
- A physical exit without a receiving custodial agency, though supervision may still apply.
- Transfer
- A move from PHRJCF into another agency's custody.
- Detainer
- A hold or request that may prevent community release after one case ends.
- Discharge
- Completion of the DCR custody term shown by the official calculation and certificate.
Resolve Potomac Highlands Record Conflicts
Records can look inconsistent while each remains correct within its own scope. VINE may show an agency-reported event while the court case remains open. That is common after bond. A jail result may vanish when the prison search begins to show a location. A Parole Board grant can precede actual release because a regional-jail prisoner may first transfer for DCR intake and fingerprinting. The Board advises allowing seven to ten days in that situation.
Give priority to the source that created the fact in question. Use the facility release or transfer entry for the physical event and destination. Use the signed court order for bond, dismissal, sentence, or probation. Use a Parole Board order for the decision, DCR Records for the time sheet or discharge certificate, and Parole Services for supervision. VINE remains valuable for notice, but it is downstream and timing-sensitive.
When every public search returns no result, keep a short source log with the names, identifiers, systems, dates, and errors checked. Then ask PHRJCF or DCR for the specific record. A documented no-result is accurate. It cannot support a claim that the person was never held or must have returned to the community.