A warrant shall issue only upon complaint on oath or affirmation supported by affidavit sworn to or affirmed before the judge or magistrate setting forth the facts establishing the grounds for issuing the warrant. If the judge or magistrate is satisfied that there is probable cause to believe that grounds therefor exist, he shall issue a warrant identifying the property and particularly describing the place, or naming or particularly describing the person, to be searched. The warrant shall be directed to the sheriff or any deputy sheriff or constable of the county, to any member of the department of public safety or to any police officer of the municipality wherein the property sought is located, or to any other officer authorized by law to execute search warrants. It shall state the grounds or probable cause for its issuance and the names of the persons whose affidavits have been taken in support thereof. It shall command the officer to search forthwith the person or place named for the property specified, to seize such property and bring the same before the judge or magistrate issuing the warrant. Such warrant may be executed either in the day or night.
W. Va. Code § 62-1A-3
Same -- Issuance and contents
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 172 Md. App. 75 - Daniels v. State (2006)
Most recently applied in 548 F. App'x 861 - United States v. David Persons (December 2013)
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.