State Resources
Missouri
Case.net has covered the whole state for free for longer than most state portals have existed, and MACHS will sell anyone a criminal history. The Sunshine Law is decent on paper and has a three-day clock.
At a glance
| Record | Held by | Cost | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and entity search | Secretary of State — Business Entity Search | Free to search | Yes |
| UCC filings | Secretary of State — UCC | Free to search | Yes |
| Professional licenses | Division of Professional Registration | Free | Yes |
| Property and land records | County recorder and county assessor | Free online in most counties | By county |
| Court records | Office of State Courts Administrator — Case.net | Free | Yes |
| Criminal records | Missouri State Highway Patrol — MACHS | Fee per name | Yes |
| Vital records | Department of Health and Senior Services | Certified copies carry a fee | Yes |
| Unclaimed property | State Treasurer | Free | Yes |
| Voter and resident records | Secretary of State | Free | Yes |
Worth knowing about Missouri
Case.net is old, statewide, and still one of the better ones
Missouri built a statewide case search early and it has been free the whole time. Case.net covers the circuit courts across all 45 judicial circuits and the appellate courts.
Search by litigant name statewide or narrow to a court. The docket entries, judgments and the parties are all there, and civil judgments in Missouri are worth pulling because the judgment itself will name the creditor’s attorney — who has already located this person once and whose file says how.
One quirk to know: Missouri municipal courts handle ordinance violations and much of the traffic work, and not all of them appear in Case.net. If a subject has minor Missouri history and Case.net is empty, the municipal division for that city is the next stop.
MACHS sells a name-based criminal history to anyone
The Missouri State Highway Patrol runs MACHS, the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site, and a name-based search is available to the public.
Missouri is one of the states where you can simply buy the answer rather than needing consent or fingerprints — the same category as Kansas, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Washington.
The name-based product returns open records: convictions, and arrests where the case is still pending. Closed records — arrests that didn’t lead to conviction — aren’t in the public version. A fingerprint search returns more, but that needs the subject.
As always, read the Case.net docket for anything MACHS surfaces. The repository says a charge exists; the docket says what became of it.
Record by record
Business and entity search
Open business search →- Held by
- Secretary of State — Business Entity Search
- Cost
- Free to search
Free entity search returning status, formation date, registered agent and the registered office. Filed documents are viewable.
Missouri LLCs aren’t required to file annual reports, so an LLC can sit registered for years with the address it was formed with. Corporations do file annually. Check which you’re looking at before you trust the address.
UCC filings
Open UCC search →- Held by
- Secretary of State — UCC
- Cost
- Free to search
Free UCC search by debtor or secured party name. A UCC-1 names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral, and the secured party is usually a lender — one of the few free routes to where a business banks.
Professional licenses
Open license search →- Held by
- Division of Professional Registration
- Cost
- Free
Missouri runs a central licensee search covering most of its professional boards. Returns legal name, license status, dates and disciplinary action.
Property and land records
- Held by
- County recorder and county assessor
- Cost
- Free online in most counties
No statewide property search. Missouri has 114 counties plus the independent City of St. Louis, each with its own recorder and assessor.
St. Louis City, St. Louis County and Jackson County are the deepest online. Rural Missouri is thin and often a phone call.
Court records
Open Case.net →- Held by
- Office of State Courts Administrator — Case.net
- Cost
- Free
Free statewide search of Missouri circuit and appellate courts. Litigant name search across all courts, or narrow to one.
The docket entries are the substance. A civil judgment names the creditor and its attorney; a garnishment names the employer or the bank. Both are worth more on a locate than the judgment amount is.
Criminal records
Open MACHS →- Held by
- Missouri State Highway Patrol — MACHS
- Cost
- Fee per name
Name-based criminal history available to the public. Returns open records — convictions and pending arrests.
Closed records, meaning arrests that didn’t result in a conviction, aren’t in the public response. A fingerprint-based search returns more but requires the subject’s participation.
Vital records
Open vital records →- Held by
- Department of Health and Senior Services
- Cost
- Certified copies carry a fee
Births and deaths from the state office, with local health agencies also able to issue. Missouri restricts certified copies to people with a direct interest.
Unclaimed property
Open unclaimed property →- Held by
- State Treasurer
- Cost
- Free
Free name search. The holder named on a reported item is the useful part on a locate — a confirmed bank, insurer or employer relationship with a last known address attached.
Voter and resident records
Open voter lookup →- Held by
- Secretary of State
- Cost
- Free
Individual registration lookup confirming status and county. Missouri restricts the bulk voter list, so this is a one-subject confirmation tool.
Public records requests in Missouri
- Statute
- Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 610.010 et seq. (Sunshine Law)
- Response deadline
- Three business days
- Appeal to
- Attorney General, or circuit court
- Appeal window
- No fixed deadline
Missouri gives you a genuine clock: an agency must respond no later than the third business day. If it needs longer it has to say so and give a date and a reason.
Enforcement runs through the Attorney General, who can investigate and bring an action, or through a private suit. A court can impose civil penalties, and where a violation is found to be knowing or purposeful the penalties and fee awards go up substantially. That distinction matters — a written request with a clear citation makes later ignorance harder to claim.
You don’t need to be a Missouri resident or explain your purpose. Fees for research time are allowed, so ask for an estimate up front rather than receiving an invoice.
What Missouri will not give you
- Closed criminal records. Arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction aren’t in the public MACHS response.
- Expunged records. Removed from the public record entirely.
- Driver and vehicle records. Closed under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
- Juvenile records. Not public.
- Some municipal court records. Not all municipal divisions report into Case.net.
Related
- Kansas — right next door, and just as open
- Indiana — $16.32, arrests only
- Reading a civil docket
- Garnishment: what you need before you file
- UCC filings name the lender
Fees and procedures verified August 2026. Clerks change their counter rules more often than the statutes change — call before you drive.