Criminal Case Search Missouri: Find Court Records the Right Way
Looking for someone’s criminal case in Missouri? The fastest way is through CaseNet, the state’s free public court record system. You can search by name or case number from any browser, and you don’t need to make an account.
The official link is courts.mo.gov/casenet. Anything else is a copycat site.
This guide walks you through the whole process. How to search, what shows up, what doesn’t, and where to go next when CaseNet isn’t enough. You’ll learn:
- How to run a name based criminal case search
- What a criminal case file includes
- Why some cases never appear on CaseNet
- When to use MACHS for a real background check
- How to read a Missouri criminal case number
- Where to find older or sealed records
- When you actually need a lawyer involved
Quick heads up: This page is informational only. We’re not connected to the Missouri Courts or any state agency. The only official Case.net website is courts.mo.gov/casenet. For real legal questions about your situation, talk to a licensed Missouri attorney.
What Counts as a Criminal Case in Missouri?
Before you start searching, it helps to know what you’re actually looking for. In Missouri, criminal cases fall into a few buckets, and not all of them work the same way inside CaseNet.
Felonies
Serious offenses like assault, theft over a certain amount, burglary, drug trafficking, or any crime that carries more than one year of possible prison time.
Misdemeanors
Lower level offenses such as petty theft, simple assault, trespassing, or a first time DWI. Usually punishable by jail and a fine.
Infractions
Minor violations that don’t carry jail time. Most of these are fine only matters and may not always appear in criminal results.
Municipal Cases
City ordinance matters handled by local municipal courts. These don’t always feed into the statewide CaseNet system.
Felony and misdemeanor cases filed in Missouri’s circuit courts are the ones you’ll usually find online through CaseNet.
The Quickest Way to Run a Criminal Case Search
If you already know the case number, skip everything else and go straight to Case Number Search. One click, one result. Done.
Don’t have a number? That’s fine. Most people don’t. Use Litigant Name Search instead.
Step by Step: Search Criminal Cases by Name
Here’s how the name search actually works on CaseNet. Follow these in order and you’ll find the case file in most situations.
Open the official Case.net page
Go to www.courts.mo.gov/casenet. Always double check the URL. The only official Case.net domain is courts.mo.gov/casenet.
Click Litigant Name Search
From the available search options on the welcome page, select Litigant Name Search. This is the right tool when you don’t have a case number and only know who was involved.
Pick “Criminal” under case type
Filtering by case type is the single biggest thing you can do to clean up your results. Choosing Criminal filters out civil, traffic, family, probate, and the rest.
Enter the name in the right format
Type the last name first, then the first name. For example, Smith, John. Add a middle initial or middle name if you have one. The search engine reads the format literally, so reversing the order may return zero matches.
Choose a county or go statewide
You can narrow to a single circuit (faster, fewer false matches) or leave it set to all participating courts for a statewide sweep (slower, but more thorough). If you know where the offense happened, picking the county saves time.
Hit “Find” and review the results
Each blue case number is a clickable link that takes you to the full file. If too many results appear, refine the search by adding a middle name or limiting the date range.
What You’ll See Inside a Criminal Case File
Once you click a case number, the file opens up with several tabs. Each one shows a different slice of the case.
Case Header
Court location, judge assigned, case type, current status, and filing date. The basics that tell you what kind of case you’re looking at.
Parties & Attorneys
The defendant, the prosecuting attorney, and defense counsel if one has been entered. Some cases also list address details.
Charges
The actual offenses filed against the defendant, along with statute references showing exactly which Missouri law was violated.
Docket Entries
A running log of every motion, order, ruling, and filing. This is where the real story of the case lives.
Hearings
Past and upcoming court dates, including the courtroom, judge, and time. Useful if you’re trying to track an active matter.
Judgments
The final outcome if the case is closed. Guilty plea, conviction, dismissal, suspended sentence, or acquittal.
Some courts even let you click the docket entries to open the actual PDFs of motions and orders. Others just show the entry text. It depends on the county.
Why Some Criminal Cases Won’t Show Up
This is the question that catches most people off guard. You search a name, get nothing, and assume you did something wrong. Sometimes you did. But other times the case genuinely isn’t visible. Here’s why.
The case is sealed or expunged
Under Section 610.140 RSMo, Missouri law allows certain criminal records to be sealed once a person has finished their sentence and waited the required period. That’s usually 3 years for most misdemeanors and 7 years for eligible felonies. Once expunged, the record is pulled from public access entirely.
The case is juvenile
Missouri keeps juvenile records closed to the public. The only exception is when a juvenile has been certified as an adult. Those cases sit in the regular criminal system and remain visible.
The arrest didn’t lead to charges
Per Section 610.100 RSMo, if someone is arrested but no charges are filed within 30 days, the arrest records close to the public. The same thing happens if charges get dismissed or the person is found not guilty.
It’s a municipal case in a small town
Not every Missouri municipal court reports into the statewide system. Some cities run their own software. For those, you’ll need to call the city court directly.
It’s federal, not state
Federal criminal cases aren’t on CaseNet at all. Those live on PACER (pacer.gov), which has its own login and small fee per search.
Wrong county selected
If you searched a single circuit and the case was filed somewhere else, it won’t appear. Switch to “All Participating Courts” and try again.
What CaseNet Won’t Tell You
CaseNet is a court record system. It shows you what’s been filed. But it’s not a complete criminal background check. Big difference.
If you need an official criminal history record, sometimes called a RAP sheet, you’ll need to go through the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division. They run the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site (MACHS), which is the state’s central repository for criminal history data.
Here’s what MACHS gives you that CaseNet doesn’t:
| What you get | CaseNet | MACHS Name Search |
|---|---|---|
| Court filings & dockets | ✓ | ✕ |
| Conviction history (statewide) | Partial | ✓ |
| Pending charges | ✓ | ✓ |
| Arrest records (under 30 days) | ✕ | ✓ |
| Cost | Free | $15 per search |
When the Name Brings Up Hundreds of Results
Common names are a real problem. Search “Johnson, Michael” statewide and you’ll likely get a wall of cases stretching back years. Here’s how to narrow things down without losing the right match.
- Add the middle name or middle initial. Even a single letter cuts results dramatically.
- Try a date range. If you have any idea when the case was filed, filtering by year helps a lot.
- Switch to a specific county. Most cases stay local to where the offense happened.
- Test name variations. Some files list “Michael” and others “Michael R.” Try both formats.
- Don’t use quotes or punctuation. The search engine reads them literally and may return zero matches.
Searching Older Criminal Cases
Older cases are hit or miss. CaseNet’s coverage gets thinner the further back you go. If a case is old enough, say before the early 2000s, it may simply not be digitized yet.
When that happens, your best bet is the Circuit Clerk in the county where the case was filed. Every Missouri county has one, and they keep the original paper files.
What to do:
- Find the circuit clerk’s office for the county where the case was filed.
- Call ahead and ask if they have the record.
- Find out the copy fee. Most counties charge around $0.10 per page, the standard rate set by the Missouri Sunshine Law.
- Visit in person, mail in a request, or use any online portal the clerk offers.
The full directory of circuit clerks is on the Missouri Courts website.
Are Missouri Criminal Records Public?
Mostly, yes. Missouri’s Sunshine Law (Chapter 610 RSMo) treats government records, including most criminal court files, as open by default.
That means anyone can look them up without giving a reason or proving residency. The Missouri Attorney General’s office puts the policy this way: openness is the rule, and closure is the exception.
The exceptions are the ones we already covered:
- Sealed or expunged records
- Juvenile files
- Closed arrest records (when no charges were filed within 30 days)
- Certain investigative records that haven’t been closed yet
Everything else is fair game for the public.
Reading a Missouri Criminal Case Number
Case numbers in Missouri follow a pattern that tells you a lot before you even open the file.
22AC-CR0012322
The year the case was filed. In this example, 2022.
AC
The county or circuit code. AC, for instance, refers to Cole County in the 19th Circuit.
CR
The case type. CR means criminal. CV means civil, DR means dissolution (divorce), JU means juvenile.
00123
The sequence number. This is just the order in which the case was filed that year in that court.
If you see “CR” in the middle of any Missouri case number, you know it’s criminal. That alone can save you time when you’re trying to filter results.
Quick Tips That Save Time
A few small habits go a long way when you’re searching criminal records often.
- Always double check the URL. The only official Case.net domain is courts.mo.gov/casenet.
- New filings can take 1 to 3 business days to appear. If you searched right after a court date and saw nothing, wait and try again.
- Disable your VPN before searching. CaseNet sometimes blocks suspicious looking traffic from commercial VPN exit nodes.
- Use a desktop browser when you can. Mobile views break some of the dropdowns and document viewers.
- Save case files as PDFs using your browser’s print option for your own records.
- Browser extensions, especially ad blockers and privacy tools, sometimes break Case.net’s session handling. Disable them for courts.mo.gov if pages won’t load.
When to Stop Searching and Call a Lawyer
CaseNet is great for tracking, monitoring, and reading the public file. But it doesn’t tell you what a charge actually means for someone, what defenses might apply, or how a plea deal would change things.
If a criminal case directly affects you, your job, your housing, your family, or your freedom, get a Missouri licensed attorney involved.
Free or low cost help is available:
Missouri Bar
Lawyer Referral Service. Phone: 573-636-3635. Visit mobar.org to find a licensed Missouri attorney near you.
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
Free legal aid for income eligible residents in eastern Missouri. Visit lsem.org.
Legal Aid of Western Missouri
Free legal aid covering the western half of the state. Visit lawmo.org.
Official Sources We Used
The information in this guide is based on direct review of the CaseNet system and details verified against official Missouri government resources.
- Official CaseNet Search Page: https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/
- Missouri Sunshine Law (Chapter 610 RSMo): https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=610
- MACHS – Missouri Automated Criminal History Site: https://www.machs.mo.gov/
- Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Record Check: mshp.dps.missouri.gov
- Missouri Attorney General Sunshine Law: ago.mo.gov
- Federal court records (PACER): https://pacer.gov
- Missouri Circuit Clerks Directory: courts.mo.gov
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
Can I search criminal cases on CaseNet for free?
Yes. Searching CaseNet is completely free, with no login required. You only pay if you decide to use Pay By Web for fines or order an MACHS background check.
Will an arrest show up if no charges were filed?
Not on CaseNet. Under Section 610.100 RSMo, arrest records become non public if charges aren’t filed within 30 days of the arrest. The same applies if charges are dismissed or the person is acquitted.
How current is the data on CaseNet?
Most circuit courts upload docket entries the same day or the next business morning. Some smaller courts batch uploads weekly. For same day accuracy after a recent court hearing, call the circuit clerk directly.
Can employers see my Missouri criminal cases?
If a case is public on CaseNet or shows up in a MACHS background check, yes. Expunged or sealed records won’t appear in standard checks, though fingerprint based searches may still flag them for certain authorized purposes.
Does CaseNet show federal criminal cases?
No. Federal cases are on PACER at pacer.gov, which has its own login and small fee per search. CaseNet only covers Missouri state circuit court cases.
How do I get a criminal case removed from CaseNet?
You’d need to file for expungement under Section 610.140 RSMo through the court where the case was filed. Eligibility depends on the offense, time elapsed since you finished your sentence, and other factors. An attorney can tell you whether you qualify.
What does “SIS” mean on a criminal record?
SIS stands for Suspended Imposition of Sentence. The court withholds formal conviction while the person completes probation. Once probation is successfully finished, the case is closed without a conviction on the public record, though law enforcement and certain authorized agencies may still see it.
Can I look up someone’s criminal case using their date of birth on CaseNet?
No. CaseNet’s name search doesn’t include a date of birth field. You confirm identity by matching the address listed in the case file. For DOB based searches, use MACHS instead.