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PARKERSBURG – The Wood County Sheriff's Office received nearly $13,000 from the most recent auction of unclaimed firearms by the treasurer for the state of West Virginia, the most received of participating agencies in this region.
The department received $12,963 from the auction held on Sept. 24 in Charleston, Treasurer Larry Pack said. Twenty-five agencies in West Virginia received funds from the sale that raised more than $127,000.
Receiving most of the proceeds was the Berkeley County Sheriff's office, which received $16,862. Wood County was No. 2.
Other agencies from the region receiving a share from the auction were the Parkersburg Police Department with $5,716,the Vienna Police Department with $2,358, the Doddridge County Sheriff's Office with $706, the Roane County Sheriff's Office with $446 and the Spencer Police Department with $148.
"Ensuring that our law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to keep our communities safe is a top priority for every city and county official. We are extremely proud to support their mission in any way we can," Pack said.
The auction raises funds by selling outdated, unclaimed or old firearms, ammunition and related accessories in police inventory to qualified bidders. Available were 388 lots of 400 firearms and 220 pounds of ammunition.
Since 2014, the treasurer's office has conducted 16 live onsite firearm auctions. In February 2025, the office launched its first online firearms auctions and since then seven online firearms auctions have been held.
In total, more than $1.5 million has been raised to benefit 125 law enforcement agencies, including Drug and Violent Crimes Task Forces, West Virginia State Police Detachments and West Virginia Natural Resources Police Districts.
Of the 338 federally licensed firearms dealers from multiple states who registered to participate in the live auction, 23 were new dealers, Pack said. Bidders were required to be a valid, licensed federal firearms dealer in the auction that was not open to the general public.