Missouri People Search

Missouri courts share one free statewide search, Case.net, so a search can start there and with these state offices before going to the recorder of deeds of the county.

• Missouri Case.netFree statewide search of circuit court cases by name
• Missouri Secretary of State business entity searchCorporations, LLCs, nonprofits and fictitious names with agents
• MODOC Offender SearchState inmates, parolees and probationers with DOC numbers
• MSHP Sex Offender RegistryKept by the Missouri State Highway Patrol
• DHSS Bureau of Vital RecordsBirth and death certificates and who can order them

Missouri's public records framework is anchored by the Sunshine Law, codified at Chapter 610 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. The statute sets a strong default in favor of openness: public records are presumed open unless specifically closed by law. Investigators, genealogists, journalists, and legal researchers rely on this presumption every day to trace individuals through courts, property records, and regulatory filings across the state's 114 counties plus the independent City of St. Louis.

Missouri's courts share Case.net, a free statewide case search. It covers most circuit court dockets, civil, criminal, family, probate and traffic, and the municipal courts that take part, so one search can show a person's court history across the state.

St. Louis City has been independent of St. Louis County since 1876 and has its own recorder of deeds, assessor, circuit court (22nd Judicial Circuit) and sheriff. An address in "St. Louis, Missouri" can be in either the city or the county, and their property, tax and local court records are separate. Jackson County (Kansas City) has courthouses in both downtown Kansas City and Independence, and people on the Missouri side of the metro often have records in Kansas counties too.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol keeps the sex offender registry and the Department of Corrections the offender search; both are linked in Where to Look. The Division of Professional Registration verifies licenses for many regulated occupations, which can confirm where a person works.

• Division of Professional Registration license searchMedical, real estate, cosmetology, engineering and other licenses

Missouri's judicial branch is organized into 46 judicial circuits, each containing one or more counties. Circuit courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction, subdivided into Associate Circuit, Probate, and Family divisions. Municipal courts handle local ordinance violations. Most circuit and associate divisions file into Case.net, giving researchers a single entry point for the vast majority of cases.

That said, Case.net has known gaps. Some rural counties have delayed docket updates. Municipal court participation is uneven, certain cities still maintain separate, non-networked case systems. And sealed files (closed juvenile adjudications, expungements under § 610.140, confidential adoption records) will not appear in search results.

For federal litigation occurring in Missouri, researchers must use PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records), which covers the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri as well as the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Common Mistake

Do not conflate "St. Louis City" records with "St. Louis County" records. If your subject lived at an address within the City of St. Louis (roughly the area bounded by the Mississippi River, Skinker, and the River Des Peres), their property, tax, and local court records are in the 22nd Judicial Circuit and the City's own Recorder of Deeds, not in St. Louis County's 21st Circuit or Clayton-based Recorder. Case.net unifies the courts, but the property side does not cross over.

Property research in Missouri is strictly county-level. Each county (plus the City of St. Louis) operates its own Recorder of Deeds office (for deeds, mortgages, liens, UCCs) and its own Assessor (for valuation and tax-roll data). A handful of large counties have excellent online portals; smaller counties may still require phone or in-person requests.

St. Louis County has online recorder and assessor searches by name or parcel going back decades. Jackson County has an online property tax search covering Kansas City and Independence. The City of St. Louis has its own Recorder of Deeds and Collector of Revenue lookups, and its records do not appear in any St. Louis County search.

Corporate filings are kept by the Secretary of State and most occupational licenses by the Division of Professional Registration. The Division of Finance regulates banks, lenders and money services businesses, and the Department of Commerce and Insurance licenses insurance producers. Missouri has no statewide general contractor license, so contractors are licensed by cities or counties.

UCC filings, which show secured loans on equipment and other business assets, are filed with the Secretary of State and can be searched online.

• Missouri Secretary of State UCCSearch financing statements filed with the state

County jail rosters are checked separately: most sheriffs post current bookings online, but few keep past records public. The state offender search is linked in Where to Look, and federal prisoners are in the Bureau of Prisons locator.

• Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locatorFederal prisoners held since 1982

The Bureau of Vital Records in the Department of Health and Senior Services keeps birth and death certificates. Certified birth records go only to the person named or close family, and death records become public after a waiting period. Marriage licenses are issued and kept by the recorder of deeds of the county, and divorce records by the circuit court.

Voter registration is run by the Secretary of State with the local election authority of each county and the City of St. Louis. Voters can check their own registration online; bulk voter files are released only for political, election or research purposes, not for resale.

• Check Your Voter RegistrationMissouri Secretary of State lookup of your own record

The Missouri State Archives, run by the Secretary of State, has digitized death certificates more than 50 years old, naturalization indexes, state penitentiary records and historic newspapers.

• Missouri State ArchivesDeath certificates, prison records and newspaper indexes

Most Missourians live in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas and a few regional centers. These counties come up most often:

• St. Louis CountyClayton; the most populous county, 21st Judicial Circuit
• City of St. LouisIndependent city with its own recorder, assessor and 22nd Circuit
• Jackson CountyKansas City and Independence, 16th Judicial Circuit
• St. Charles CountySuburbs west of St. Louis
• Greene CountySpringfield, 31st Judicial Circuit
• Clay CountyLiberty and northern Kansas City suburbs, 7th Judicial Circuit
• Jefferson CountyHillsboro and the south St. Louis area, 23rd Judicial Circuit
• Boone CountyColumbia, home of the University of Missouri
• Cass CountyHarrisonville and the southern Kansas City suburbs
• Platte CountyPlatte City and the KCI airport area
• Franklin CountyWest of the St. Louis area
• Jasper CountyJoplin and Carthage, with a courthouse in each

Researcher Tip

A "St. Louis, MO" ZIP code does not tell you whether an address is in the city or the county: many 631 ZIP codes are in St. Louis County. Check the county assessor or the City of St. Louis records before you search. Treating the city and the county as one place is a common Missouri mistake.

On the Kansas City side, always run parallel searches in Wyandotte County, KS and Johnson County, KS, because the metro crosses the state line. A subject who lived in Kansas City, Missouri one year may have moved to Overland Park or Olathe the next, and Missouri-only searches will miss them entirely.

Missouri's Sunshine Law permits certain closures: personnel records, ongoing investigations, sealed juvenile cases, and closed adoption records. The Safe at Home program, operated by the Secretary of State, provides a substitute address for domestic-violence and stalking survivors, that address appears in court, voter, and DMV records instead of the subject's actual residence.

Privacy Note

Missouri has no general consumer privacy law like California's CCPA, but the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act and federal laws (FCRA, GLBA, DPPA) still apply. Using public records to harass, stalk or unlawfully collect debts can be both a civil wrong and a crime.