Search St. Louis County Court Records
St. Louis County's official court instructions send users to Missouri Case.net for public case lookup. The county Find My Case page gives the basic route: go to Case.net, enter a case number or litigant name, and use Track This Case when alerts are needed. Case.net is statewide. It covers Missouri circuit courts and participating municipal divisions, so it is the main search tool for St. Louis County Circuit Court, associate civil, associate criminal, domestic, probate, small claims, and many traffic or municipal matters.
The best search starts with the full case number. A name search can work, but common names in St. Louis County produce statewide results unless the search is narrowed by court location, judicial circuit, year, or case type. If the result is missing, check whether the matter belongs to the St. Louis County Municipal Court, a city municipal court, an older historical file, or a record category that is closed from public view.
- Open Case.net and choose the search method that matches the information available.
- Enter the full case number, or search by litigant last name or business name.
- Narrow the court location to St. Louis County or the 21st Judicial Circuit when possible.
- Open the matching case and review the caption, filing date, parties, court, status, docket events, and documents.
- Use Track This Case for future activity, or contact the Circuit Clerk for certified copies and documents not visible online.
The county screenshot source for Find My Case shows the local instructions that route St. Louis County court records users into Case.net.
That local instruction matters because it confirms Case.net is not just a state fallback, it is the county court's own starting point for case lookup.
St. Louis County Court Records Fields
Case.net search screens change over time, but the research inventory identifies the fields a St. Louis County court records user should expect. These fields help separate a county case from a St. Louis City case, a municipal citation, or a statewide name match. For old cases, common names, or sealed records, the field limits can also show when the online path has reached its limit and a clerk request is needed.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search method | Tab or link | Yes | Common paths include litigant name, case number, filing date, scheduled hearings, and judgments. |
| Litigant last name / business name | Text | Yes for name search | Use broad spelling first, then add more detail if too many results appear. |
| First name | Text | No | Narrows a common last name. |
| Middle name | Text | No | Useful when multiple people share a first and last name. |
| Case number | Text | Yes for case-number search | Use the complete court case number if known. |
| Court location / judicial circuit | Dropdown | No | Select St. Louis County or the 21st Judicial Circuit when narrowing statewide results. |
| Case type | Dropdown | No | Civil, criminal, domestic, probate, traffic, municipal, and other categories may be available. |
| Year filed / filing date | Date or text | No | Helpful for older matters and common names. |
| Buttons | Button | Yes | Search, Reset or Clear, and Track This Case appear where supported. |
Types of St. Louis County Court Records
St. Louis County court records are not one file type. Circuit civil records may show petitions, answers, motions, service returns, orders, judgments, garnishments, executions, and appeal notices. Criminal records show the case opened after charges are filed, including complaint, indictment or information, counsel, plea, hearings, disposition, bond, sentence, probation, and warrant events. Family and domestic records include divorce, custody, support, paternity, and motions to modify, with some details limited where minors or protected information are involved.
Probate records are handled by the Probate Division of the Circuit Court, not a separate probate court. Juvenile records are different because Missouri law treats juvenile court files as confidential subject to statutory exceptions. Small claims are available for claims of $5,000 or less through the county court system. Traffic and ordinance records may appear in Case.net, the St. Louis County Municipal Court search path, Tyler Municipal Online Payments, or a city municipal court, depending on who issued the citation.
- Civil and associate civil records include lawsuits, judgments, liens, garnishments, and service entries.
- Criminal and associate criminal records include charges, pleas, docket entries, bonds, warrants, dispositions, and sentences.
- Family and domestic records include divorce, custody, support, paternity, and protection-order matters.
- Probate records include estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, and some restricted civil-commitment matters.
- Traffic and municipal records include county ordinance cases, city municipal court cases, and associate traffic matters.
What St. Louis County Court Records Show
A public St. Louis County court record can be a summary docket, a case header, a list of parties, a set of public documents, or a certified copy from the Circuit Clerk. Case.net may show enough to confirm status and hearing dates, while a clerk copy request may be needed for a signed order, judgment, decree, or certified file. Court Operating Rule 2 expanded remote access to many public case documents, but that does not make every document public or available online.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The Missouri court case number used for exact searches and copy requests. |
| Caption | The party names and case style, such as plaintiff and defendant or petitioner and respondent. |
| Court / division | The 21st Judicial Circuit, municipal division, probate division, associate division, family, juvenile, or custody/divorce assignment. |
| Filing date and status | When the case opened and whether it is pending, disposed, dismissed, transferred, stayed, sealed, or closed. |
| Parties and attorneys | Named parties, attorneys of record, prosecutor, and defense counsel where public. |
| Docket entries | Filings, motions, hearings, continuances, orders, judgments, warrants, service returns, notices, and sentencing entries. |
| Criminal data | Charge, statute or ordinance, level, plea, disposition, bond, sentence, probation, and warrant activity. |
| Documents | Public remote documents where available, with confidential or sealed items blocked or redacted. |
St. Louis County Court Records Access
Missouri public-access rules use more than one source. The Sunshine Law defines public governmental records and states a policy favoring open access, while court records are handled through court rules, clerk procedures, Case.net, and redaction limits. RSMo 610.010 defines public records broadly, and RSMo 610.011 states Missouri's open-records policy. For court case files, the practical search route remains Case.net first, then the Circuit Clerk or the specific municipal clerk.
The Missouri statute source for RSMo 610.010 is part of the St. Louis County court records access background.
That definition helps explain why county records may be open in general while certain court files still depend on judicial access rules.
The separate source for RSMo 610.011 states the open-records policy used when public access is not blocked by another law.
For St. Louis County court records, that policy supports access but does not override sealing orders, juvenile confidentiality, adoption limits, or redactions.
St. Louis County Court Records Copies
The Circuit Clerk is the fallback for St. Louis County court records that are not fully available through Case.net. The office is at 105 South Central Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105, and the public phone is 314-615-8029. Research also located 314-615-8015 as a certified-copy related phone. Requests should include the case number if known, party names, filing year, document name, and whether a plain or certified copy is needed.
RSMo 610.026 caps ordinary paper copy fees for public records at 10 cents per page plus permitted staff and research costs. The visible official research did not locate exact Circuit Clerk prices for plain or certified court copies, so the county fee schedule or clerk phone line should be used for current court-copy pricing.
| Item | Located Fee Detail |
|---|---|
| Ordinary public-record paper copy | Missouri statute caps ordinary paper copies at 10 cents per page plus permitted costs. |
| Plain court copy | Specific Circuit Clerk fee not located in visible official research. |
| Certified court copy | Specific Circuit Clerk fee not located in visible official research; call 314-615-8029 or 314-615-8015. |
The statute screenshot source for RSMo 610.026 documents the public-record copy-fee rule used for St. Louis County access requests.
The fee rule is a public-record baseline, while court-specific certification costs still need confirmation from the Circuit Clerk fee schedule.
Municipal and Older Court Records
St. Louis County court records searches often fail when the wrong court level is used. The county has a Municipal Division list with many city courts, including Ballwin, Florissant, Kirkwood, Manchester, University City, Webster Groves, Wildwood, and many others. A county ordinance case may be in the St. Louis County Municipal Court, while a city ticket may be with that city's municipal court. The county municipal court also has its own case-search page and uses Tyler Municipal Online Payments for payment-eligible violations.
Older and historical court records may also sit outside modern Case.net. Research located older St. Louis probate and judicial records in separate archive and library paths, including records that predate modern electronic court dockets. For these files, the best fallback is the Circuit Clerk, Probate Division, archive source, or local library genealogy material, depending on record age and type.
Note: St. Louis County, Missouri is separate from St. Louis City and from St. Louis County, Minnesota search results.
Restricted St. Louis County Court Records
Some St. Louis County court records are not public even when a case exists. RSMo 211.321 makes juvenile court records confidential subject to exceptions. RSMo 610.140 controls eligible criminal expungement, and RSMo 610.120 explains that closed records are not destroyed but are unavailable to the general public except for specified access. Arrest-only relief may fall under RSMo 610.122 when charges were dismissed, not filed, or ended in not guilty.
Restricted categories include sealed and expunged criminal records, arrest records after no conviction, juvenile matters, adoption records, mental-health and civil-commitment records, and redacted identifiers such as Social Security numbers, account numbers, protected addresses, minor names, victim data, and medical information. A public docket may remain visible while a document is blocked, or the case may be absent from public search entirely.
The source image for RSMo 610.120 shows the closed-record access rule relevant to St. Louis County court records.
That rule explains why a closed record may still exist in court or agency systems even when it no longer appears to the public.
St. Louis County Court Records Requests
For copies, certified records, mail requests, and documents not remotely visible, use the St. Louis County Circuit Clerk. Bring or provide enough detail for staff to identify the file: case number, party names, approximate filing year, court division, and the specific document requested. If the record is municipal, contact the St. Louis County Municipal Court at 314-615-8760 or the specific city municipal court named in the ticket or docket.
St. Louis County Circuit Clerk
105 South Central Avenue
Clayton, MO 63105
314-615-8029
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.