The writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum shall be granted forthwith by the Supreme Court of Appeals, or any circuit court, or any other court given power by any particular statute to grant the same, or any judge of either court in vacation, to any person who shall, by himself or by someone in his behalf, apply for the same by petition, showing by affidavit or other evidence probable cause to believe that he is detained without lawful authority.
W. Va. Code § 53-4-1
When and by whom writ granted
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case 169 W. Va. 639 - State Ex Rel. H. K. v. Taylor (1982)
Most recently applied in In Re: Involuntary Hospitalization of T.O. (February 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: West Virginia Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain West Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.