How to File Harassment Charges in West Virginia

To file harassment charges in West Virginia, you can either report the conduct to law enforcement or go directly to your county’s magistrate court and swear out a criminal complaint. Many people do both. Harassment is a misdemeanor under West Virginia Code 61-2-9a, and a first conviction carries up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.¹ What matters most for a successful case is the quality of your documentation and picking the right path to get the charge in front of a judicial officer.

Make Sure the Conduct Qualifies as Harassment

West Virginia Code 61-2-9a covers harassment and stalking as separate offenses under the same statute. Harassment involves credible threats or conduct that meets the statute’s definition. Stalking involves a course of conduct directed at another person with the intent to cause that person to fear for their safety or suffer substantial emotional distress.¹ Stalking implies a sustained pattern; harassment can be built on repeated threats alone.

A single rude comment or isolated argument won’t clear the bar. Repeated threatening texts, showing up uninvited after being told to stop, or following someone to work is the kind of conduct courts take seriously.

If the conduct happened through a phone, computer, or messaging app, a separate statute applies. It criminalizes anonymous contact intended to harass, continued contact after the recipient has asked the sender to stop, threats of criminal activity, and obscene material sent after a request to desist. A first violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine; a second or later offense reaches up to one year and $1,000.² The “requested to desist” language matters in practice: if you’ve told the person in writing to stop and they keep contacting you, that written request itself becomes evidence.

Report to Law Enforcement

Your first option is to report the harassment to your local police department, county sheriff’s office, or the West Virginia State Police. Bring what you have: dates and times of each incident, screenshots of messages, voicemails, and the names of anyone who saw or received the harassing conduct. Don’t delete anything on your phone or computer.

If the officer sees an immediate threat or ongoing danger, an arrest can happen on the spot. If the behavior is a slow-building pattern rather than a single dramatic event, the officer may take a report and refer you to magistrate court to file the complaint yourself. That referral isn’t a rejection. Many misdemeanor harassment cases begin exactly this way.

Swear Out a Complaint Before a Magistrate

If police don’t arrest, you can file a criminal complaint at the magistrate court in the county where the harassment took place. West Virginia requires that criminal complaints be made under oath or supported by an affidavit. You’ll give a sworn statement describing each incident, including dates, locations, and the evidence you have. The magistrate then decides whether probable cause exists to believe a crime occurred. If it does, the court can issue a criminal summons or an arrest warrant.

The advantage of this route is that it puts the charging decision in the hands of a judicial officer rather than a police officer. It works well for the type of harassment that accumulates through repeated contacts rather than exploding in a single incident. Be specific and organized in your sworn statement. Vague descriptions make it harder for the magistrate to find probable cause.

What Evidence to Bring

Harassment cases live or die on documentation. What convinces a magistrate or prosecutor is a clear pattern: multiple incidents, escalation over time, and continued contact after the person was asked to stop. Useful evidence includes:

Text messages, emails, voicemails, social media messages and posts, and call logs. Screenshot everything and back it up somewhere separate from your phone.
Any message you sent telling the person not to contact you. Under the cyber harassment statute, that request converts later contacts into potential violations.
Statements from people who witnessed the conduct or received harassing messages about you.
Prior police reports, even those that didn’t lead to arrest, because they establish a timeline.
Medical records if the harassment caused documented anxiety, depression, or other health effects.

Put everything in chronological order. Someone reviewing your file should be able to follow the pattern without piecing it together from scattered documents.

Consider a Protective Order at the Same Time

Criminal charges and protective orders are separate legal actions, and you can pursue both simultaneously. A protective order doesn’t require a criminal conviction, and violating one creates additional criminal liability. West Virginia has two types, and the right one depends on your relationship with the person harassing you.

Domestic Violence Protective Order

If the person is a family or household member, a current or former spouse, someone you’ve lived with, or someone you share a child with, you can seek a domestic violence protective order. West Virginia’s definition of domestic violence includes “creating fear of physical harm by harassment, stalking, psychological abuse or threatening acts.”³ Physical injury is not required.

You file a verified petition at the magistrate court. If the magistrate finds clear and convincing evidence of immediate and present danger of abuse, an emergency order can be issued the same day, without the other person present. An emergency DVPO automatically requires the respondent to surrender firearms. The case then moves to family court, which must hold a final hearing within 10 days.⁴

Personal Safety Order

For harassment by a neighbor, coworker, acquaintance, or stranger, you can petition for a personal safety order. You file at the magistrate court in your county, describing specific acts of stalking, sexual offenses, or repeated credible threats of bodily injury. There is no filing fee.⁵

A temporary order can be granted quickly if you show immediate risk. At a final hearing, the magistrate can issue a final personal safety order after finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the respondent committed the alleged acts and that you have a reasonable fear of continued unwanted contact.⁶ A final order can last up to two years and may be extended before it expires.⁷ The court can order the respondent to stop all direct and indirect contact, stay away from your home, work, and school, and in some circumstances give up firearms.

Why This Matters for the Criminal Case

Getting a protective order in place changes the stakes if the harassment continues. Violating a DVPO is a misdemeanor with mandatory jail time: a first violation is one day to one year with at least 24 hours of actual confinement, plus a $250 to $2,000 fine. A second violation requires at least 30 days in jail and a fine of $500 to $3,000. A third within ten years means at least six months and a fine up to $4,000.⁸ Separately, harassment or stalking committed while a protective order is in effect escalates the underlying charge from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by one to five years in prison and a $3,000 to $10,000 fine.¹

What the Accused Faces

Penalties under the harassment and stalking statute climb sharply with prior conduct and with existing court orders:

First offense harassment or stalking: misdemeanor, up to six months in jail, up to $1,000 fine, or both.¹
Violation while a court order protects the victim: misdemeanor with a 90-day minimum, a one-year maximum, and fines from $2,000 to $5,000.¹
Second or later offense: felony, one to five years in state prison, $3,000 to $10,000 fine, or both.¹
Harassment or stalking while a protective order is in effect: felony with the same one-to-five-year prison range and $3,000 to $10,000 fine.¹

Federal firearm restrictions can also attach. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), anyone subject to a qualifying protective order is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition, and a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction triggers a separate federal firearms ban under § 922(g)(9).⁹

A boundary worth naming: if the harassment is happening at work and it’s tied to race, sex, religion, or another protected characteristic, that’s a separate federal track handled through the EEOC on a civil timeline (generally 180 days from the last incident, extended to 300 days where a state or local agency enforces a similar law).¹⁰ That process runs alongside, not instead of, the criminal filing described here.

When to Talk to an Attorney

Harassment cases look straightforward on paper and get complicated fast. If you’re seeking a protective order, an attorney can help you draft the petition so it’s specific enough to survive the hearing. If law enforcement has been slow to move, a lawyer familiar with the magistrate court process can push things forward or help you file the sworn complaint yourself. When the conduct has crossed from repeated contact into a pattern that looks like stalking, legal guidance matters more, because the line between misdemeanor harassment and felony stalking shapes both the charging decision and the sentence.

1
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 61-2-9a – Stalking, Harassment; Penalties; Definitions
2
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 61-3C-14a – Obscene, Anonymous, Harassing and Threatening Communications by Computer, Cell Phones and Electronic Communication Devices; Penalty
3
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 48-27-202 – Domestic Violence; Definition
4
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 48-27-403 – Emergency Protective Orders of Court; Hearings; Persons Present
5
West Virginia Judiciary. Petition For Personal Safety Order
6
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 53-8-7 – Personal Safety Hearing; Forms of Relief
7
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 53-8-8 – Modification and Rescission
8
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 48-27-903 – Violations of Protective Orders; Penalties
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 18 Section 922 – Unlawful Acts
10
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits For Filing A Charge