Judicial notice is a court’s acceptance of a well-known and indisputable fact without requiring the party relying on the fact to prove it. The doctrine of judicial notice is one of common sense, and is based on the theory that where a fact is well-known in the community—or its existence is easily determined from sources that cannot be reasonably questioned—it would not be a good use of judicial time and resources to require formal proof of the fact in court. A court may take judicial notice of both facts and laws.

In West Virginia, as in other jurisdictions, the concept of judicial notice allows courts to accept certain facts that are commonly known within the community or can be verified from reliable sources without question, without requiring formal proof. This doctrine is rooted in the interest of judicial economy and efficiency. West Virginia Rule of Evidence 201 governs the use of judicial notice in the state's courts. Under this rule, a court may take judicial notice of 'adjudicative facts' that are not subject to reasonable dispute because they are either generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the court or can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. Additionally, courts in West Virginia may take judicial notice of laws, which include statutes, administrative regulations, and ordinances, as well as the decisional, constitutional, and public records of the state and federal governments. The rule also provides guidance on when a court must take judicial notice if requested by a party and how a court may inform itself of the facts to be noticed.