Yes, Missouri Criminal records are public. The Missouri Sunshine Law requires that state and local law enforcement agencies make state public criminal records available to requesters. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is the primary custodian of criminal history documents, although local law enforcement and courts also maintain copies. The Missouri State Highway Patrol allows the public to obtain criminal records online through the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site (MACHS).
Criminal records, considered public in the United States, are made available through some third-party aggregate sites. Searching with third-party websites is often easier as the information is not limited to geographic record availability. Information found on third-party websites can serve as a jumping off point for parties searching for a specific record or multiple records. Typically, requesters must provide the following information to gain access to these records:
Third-party websites offer these search services, but they are not government sponsored. Availability of records may vary.
Missouri criminal records are official documents providing details of the criminal activities of arrested and/or convicted individuals in Missouri. Besides arrest and conviction information, these records provide details of pleas, dispositions, and sentences. Missouri criminal records are also known as rap sheets and are prepared by various state and local law enforcement agencies, courts, and Missouri detention facilities.
Missouri criminal records generally provide the following information:
Everyone who has had a run-in with the law enforcement in Missouri will have a criminal record. However, criminal records are only one of several other police records available to public requesters in Missouri. Others include arrest records, arrest warrants, incident reports, and logs of police activities.
State and local law enforcement agencies maintain criminal records in Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol allows the public members to perform a criminal record search for a nominal fee. Individuals looking to obtain a free public criminal record check must use third-party alternatives. This agency provides statewide criminal histories and can also process FBI federal criminal history requests. Local law enforcement agencies like city police departments and county sheriff’s offices may also provide limited criminal records. These include incident and accident reports for events that occurred within their jurisdictions.
For criminal on-demand court records, check the Missouri Courts Casenet portal. It is also possible to find criminal court records by visiting Missouri courts where the cases in question were heard. Clerks of courts also have provisions for providing copies of criminal case documents upon request.
Yes, Missouri arrest records are public, as the Missouri Sunshine Law requires that local law enforcement agencies make police records available to requesters. To obtain free arrest records in Missouri, parties can use the public access computers at the clerk's office at their local county superior court. An arrest search will bring any arrest records in the court’s database. Interested individuals may contact their local sheriff’s office or police station to request police reports.
Missouri arrest records describe the apprehension and detention of individuals wanted in connection with ongoing investigations and crimes. These official documents are available from law enforcement agencies in the state. While arrest records indicate that apprehended individuals are taken into custody, they do not indicate that these individuals are guilty of crimes of which they were arrested.
Similarly, an arrest record is not proof of indictment. An individual’s arrest record will be included in their criminal record when indicted in a court of law. Lastly, an arrest record is different from a detention or inmate record. Law enforcement officers may arrest persons of interest to bring them in for questioning rather than detain them. A Missouri arrest record provides the following information:
Missouri arrest warrants are court orders providing law enforcement officers with the legal authority to make arrests. When seeking such warrants, police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and district attorneys must approach judges and magistrates and show probable cause. A Missouri arrest warrant carries the signature of the judge or magistrate authorizing it. In Missouri, an arrest warrant contains the following information:
Missouri law enforcement officers may make arrests without warrants only when they witnessed the crimes informing such arrests or have clear probable cause for doing so. There is no central database where the public can initiate a warrant search in Missouri. The easiest way to carry out an active warrant search is to look for lists of arrest orders that various county sheriff's place on their websites.
Missouri inmate records provide incarceration information for individuals serving time in prison and jail. Jail records are official documents describing aspects of the operations of detention and correctional facilities. Inmate records provide details of individuals held in these facilities, including identifying information.
The Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) runs state-operated prisons as well as oversees the operations of community supervision and community release centers. It is also responsible for probation and parole programs. For an inmate search, use the Offender Search tool provided on the MODOC website. For additional information and jail records, contact the Department’s Constituent Services Office by sending an email to constituentservices@doc.mo.gov.
Missouri does not release inmate’s health care information to the public. Those looking for health and mental health records, as well as sex offender treatment information for specific inmates, must provide notarized and completed Release of Information forms signed by the offenders. Send the form along with inquiry about medical records to:
Missouri Department of Corrections Medical Services Section
Division of Offender Rehabilitative Services
P.O. Box 236
Jefferson City, MO 65102
The Missouri sex offender registry contains the names of registered sex offenders living in the state as well as details of the offenses. While local law enforcement agencies registered sex offenders living in the various counties, cities, and towns of Missouri, the State Highway Patrol maintains the central database of registered sex offenders in Missouri.
Missouri law mandates the State Highway Patrol to make this listing available online to the public. Visit the Sex Offender Registry to search for registered sex offenders living, working, and attending school in Missouri. For more information about an offender listed in the registry, contact the Sheriff’s Office of the county where the offender resides.
A DWI in Missouri, also known as drunk driving, is one of the most serious traffic violations that a driver can commit on Missouri roads. Missouri DWI law proffers strict penalties for drivers who operate motor vehicles under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as they put others’ lives at risk.
Missouri law enforcement officials look out for drivers who appear unable to maneuver their vehicles probably and may stop them for a field sobriety test. The police will arrest any driver that has a measured blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or more. For commercial drivers, the limit is 0.04%. In Missouri, first-time DWI offenders will lose their driver’s license for ninety days. Multiple offenders may lose their licenses for 1 - 5 years. The court may also sentence a driver convicted of DWI to jail or impose other penalties.
In Missouri, misdemeanors are less serious crimes than felonies. They usually involve less serious injuries, properties of lower value, and/or smaller amounts of drugs. There are three misdemeanor classes in Missouri. Class A misdemeanors are the most serious while Class C misdemeanors are the least serious.
Missouri classifies crimes punishable by more than one year in prison as felonies. The state has five classes of felonies with Class A ones being the most serious crimes.
The Missouri Department of Corrections also maintains probation and parole records for inmates released from state-run prisons. To obtain parole and probation information, contact the Parole Board by calling (573) 751-8488 or sending an email to probation.parole@doc.mo.gov. When making an inquiry, provide the following information about the offender:
Missouri probation records are official documents providing details of court-ordered supervised releases of individuals awarded suspended sentences. Convicted individuals on probation serve their terms outside prisons and jails. Besides providing the name and other identifying details of the individual on probation, a complete probation record must also state the convict’s crime and court judgment, as well as the length and terms of the probation. Inmates who receive probation must report to a probation officer and ensure they follow the rules to avoid a probation violation. Missouri’s probation office is the Board of Probation and Parole of the Department of Corrections.
Juvenile criminal records are not open to the public except for court hearings and proceedings in cases where the juvenile is adjudicated guilty of a Class A felony, capital murder, first-degree murder, or second-degree murder. Similarly, arrest records for juveniles taken into custody for offenses considered felonies if committed by adults are not automatically sealed. The public can access fingerprints and mugshots of offending juveniles in such cases within 30 days of creating such records.
Juvenile criminal records are court documents that provide details of the criminal activities of juveniles (persons under 18 years of age). In Missouri, juveniles are not tried as adults but go to juvenile court. The Missouri Juvenile Code regards juveniles guilty of crimes as adjudicated delinquents rather than convicts and sends them to a juvenile detention center - instead of a prison. What are Missouri Conviction Records?
Missouri conviction records include detailed information about indictments, pleas, hearings, and sentencing of individuals found guilty by criminal courts in the start. These official court documents are prepared following the conclusion of trials involving infractions, misdemeanors, or felony charges. Juries render convictions in Missouri. In non-jury trials, convictions are rendered by judges. In both cases, conviction records include final judgments stating whether convicted individuals were sentenced to prison/jail, placed on probation, fined, or paroled. A conviction record may be missing the final judgment if such judgment was reversed or set aside by law or the convict pardon.
The accuracy of Missouri criminal records depends on when and how they were collected. Records prepared before electronic systems were in place tend to be less accurate. This is due to human error while entering those records and the fragility of paper records. Some Missouri law enforcement agencies, courts, and detention facilities have digitized some of their old paper records. However, some archived records are still on paper or not retrievable.
Missouri criminal history records contain personally identifiable descriptions, arrest information, indictments, detentions, final dispositions, and other details about persons who entered the state's criminal justice system as suspects or offenders. The Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division in Missouri maintains these records.
Per RSMo. 43.527, all entities requesting Missouri criminal justice information for non-criminal justice reasons must pay a fee to the CJIS. This fee amounts to $14 for a name-based search and $20 for a fingerprint-based search (except in a few situations). It is only when a criminal justice agency requests a Missouri criminal record for an official reason that the record can be accessed for free.
Individuals can review the CJIS Criminal Record Check page for guidelines on ordering Missouri criminal background checks.
Yes, police records are public records in Missouri under the Missouri Sunshine Law. A police record is any record generated or acquired by a law enforcement agency while conducting public business. Examples include 911 recordings, arrest reports, traffic citations, photographs, investigation reports, body camera audio & video recordings, personnel records, and incident reports.
The Missouri Sunshine Law directs each law enforcement agency of a municipality or county to provide police records upon a citizen's request. However, some records are publicly unavailable because of their sensitive or confidential contents. For example, under RSMo. 610.100 (2), mobile video recordings and investigative reports of Missouri law enforcement agencies are closed until the related investigation becomes inactive. Similarly, 911 tapes are inaccessible to the public (RSMo. 610.150).
The public can obtain Missouri police records from the records unit of a law enforcement agency. Individuals may use the Sunshine Law Request Form to submit their police record requests. Requesters must include their contact information and give details on the information or record they are requesting in this form. Fees may apply; hence, one should contact the police agency to determine the relevant search or copy fees. The police division should also be contacted (or one can check their website) to find the different submission methods.
Some eligibility requirements may apply to access a police record. Under Missouri law, a law enforcement agency can withhold the disclosure of a police record under two conditions. The first is if the agency is concerned about the safety of a victim, witness, undercover personnel, or other individuals if the record is released. The second is when releasing the document would jeopardize a criminal investigation. Nevertheless, citizens retain the right to contest nondisclosures in a circuit court, as per RSMo. 610.100 (5).
Notably, a requester who is also a criminal defendant cannot request related police records from law enforcement agencies but must do so through the prosecuting attorney.
Yes, police reports are public records in Missouri. Police reports are documents containing information about an incident that required police involvement or response. Such reports can include the timeline and place of an incident, the name of a victim or witness, the responding officers, and other relevant case facts. Examples include investigative, arrest, incident, and traffic crash reports.
Although arrest and incident reports are public police records in Missouri, RSMo. 610.100.2 (3) carries an exception to the public's right of access. Accordingly, if an arrested person is not charged within 30 days of their arrest, the arrest report will remain a closed record. However, the law excludes the disposition part of the arrest report, which may still be accessed, and eligible parties with access to closed Missouri police records under RSMo. 610.120.
Generally, Missouri citizens have three methods to file police reports with their local law enforcement agencies:
Each police jurisdiction has a separate list of incidents or offenses that citizens can report online. Common examples include stealing, vandalism, fraudulent debit/credit card use, graffiti, phone harassment, and identity theft. Likewise, a police division will have specific criteria that a person must satisfy to file a police report online. One standard requirement is that the incident must have occurred within the region that the police division serves. More information about online incident reporting (including submission guidelines) can be obtained from one's local law enforcement agency's website.
Besides filing non-emergency police reports online or via telephone, residents of Missouri can also file suspicious activity reports with local law enforcement, as explained on the Missouri Department of Public Safety's Suspicious Activity Reporting page.
The DPS also provides the Courage2Report (C2R) program to help make schools safer and assist law enforcement in learning about school violence. Listed below are some crimes committed on school property that can be reported via C2R:
Parties that can file a confidential report through the C2R program include school personnel, students, parents, and concerned citizens. After submitting a report, the information is promptly distributed to the school and law enforcement. It is left to both parties to determine how to handle each report accordingly.
Missouri police records are public information per the Missouri Sunshine Law. As a result, interested members of the public can inspect such records freely, but they may incur copy costs (fees charged by an agency to reproduce records) on occasion. These fees vary by record custodian.
Generally, to view a police record for free, individuals should visit the law enforcement agency that maintains the record. While a person can walk in during normal business hours, some agencies require a requester to book an appointment.
Besides submitting record requests in person, individuals can also find free public police records online via databases provided by the different Missouri police divisions. Online records available for free often include sex offender registries, arrest/booking reports, and inmate records.
A mugshot is a picture of an arrested individual. Also called a booking photograph, it comprises a suspect's front and side profile from the top of the head to the shoulders. The word mugshot derives from the informal "mug," which means "face". The latter word, "shot," refers to a snapshot of the face.
Mugshots are public records in Missouri. Even so, per RSMo. 407.1150, it is illegal for anyone who publishes or disseminates mugshots to demand/accept a fee or other compensation from a person to correct or remove a mugshot.
Missouri mugshots are available at local and state law enforcement agencies or through public police record databases. For example, the Missouri Department of Corrections provides online access to mugshots taken of prison-sentenced offenders via its Offender Search portal. Likewise, the Missouri State Highway Patrol maintains the state's Sex Offender Registry, where the public can find pictures of sex offenders residing in Missouri, plus other details.
Results are based upon available information from state, county and municipal databases, and may not include some or all of the above details.
