How to File for Expungement in Missouri

File a petition in the court where the person was charged or found guilty, listing every crime to be expunged. Name as defendants all law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecutors, central state repositories and others believed to hold the records; the order does not bind anyone left out. The clerk notifies the prosecutor, who has 30 days to object in writing; if there is an objection, the court holds a hearing within 60 days. If the person meets the time, record and payment requirements, saying in the petition that they are not a threat to public safety and that expungement serves justice creates a presumption that it is warranted, and the prosecutor must rebut it. Victims may be heard. The court must decide within 6 months of filing. A denied petition cannot be refiled for one year. Courts must provide a pro se petition form; the Missouri courts form for 610.140 petitions is CR 360.

When a case is nolle prossed or dismissed, the person is found not guilty, or imposition of sentence is suspended, the official records become closed records once the case is finally over. The court's judgment and the prosecutor's final action can still be accessed. A person may also petition to expunge the records of an arrest for an eligible crime in the county of arrest, no earlier than 18 months after the arrest, if they have not been charged or found guilty of any misdemeanor or felony in that time. Separate rules allow expungement of an arrest based on false information, and of charges brought because of identity theft or mistaken identity that were dismissed or ended in a not-guilty verdict.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division keeps Missouri criminal history records, available through the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site (MACHS). A name-based search costs $16.00 (plus an online convenience fee; $5.00 more for a notarized response) and returns a possible match showing only open records. A fingerprint-based search returns a positive match with closed and open records: schedule a livescan appointment through the MACHS Fingerprint Search Portal or call IDEMIA at (844) 543-9712; the state fee is $20.00 plus IDEMIA's service fee, and results are usually mailed in 7-10 business days. Applicants outside Missouri can mail an FBI FD-258 fingerprint card with fees (check or money order to "State of Missouri - Criminal Record System Fund") to Missouri State Highway Patrol, CJIS Division, P.O. Box 9500, Jefferson City, MO 65102-9500 (about 4-6 weeks). Questions: (573) 526-6153. An FBI Identity History Summary is a separate request made to the FBI.