First Adopted: January 11, 2007
Most Recently Effective: July 01, 2008
Court Operating Rule (COR) 25 | Services By Court Clerks And Staff In Family Law Cases
COR 025 | Services By Court Clerks And Staff In Family Law Cases
(a) Court clerks and court staff may provide the following services to self-represented litigants to achieve fair and efficient resolution of their family law case. The services specified in this Court Operating Rule 25, when delivered by a court clerk or court staff, do not constitute legal advice.
(b) Rendering legal advice is not authorized for any court clerk or court staff member.
(c) Court clerks and court staff may:
(1) Encourage self-represented litigants to be informed about their legal rights;
(2) Provide information about available pro bono legal services, low cost legal services, legal aid programs, and lawyer referral services;
(3) Provide docketed case information for the litigant’s case;
(4) Provide information about available approved forms, without providing advice or recommendation as to any specific course of action;
(5) Provide approved forms and approved written instructions on how to complete the forms;
(6) Record information provided by a self-represented litigant on approved forms when a litigant has limited literacy, physical infirmity, or other disabilities to the extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act;
(7) Provide court-approved definitions of commonly used terms;
(8) Provide general information about local court operations and facilitate the setting of hearings;
(9) Provide information about required parent and/or child education courses and mediation; and
(10) Provide information about community services and other resources.
(d) Each court clerk shall conspicuously post the following notice describing services the court clerks and court staff may and may not provide to self-represented litigants. A copy of the notice shall be provided to any person on request.
(Adopted January 11, 2007, effective July 1, 2007. Amended April 30, 2007, effective April 30, 2007; amended December 21, 2007, effective July 1, 2008.)
First Adopted: August 01, 2003
Most Recently Effective: July 01, 2018
Court Operating Rule (COR) 8 | Records Retention and Destruction | Addendum
Microfilming Guidelines for Missouri Courts
(a) All microfilming of court records shall be in accordance with these guidelines.(b) The original and one copy of the microfilm shall be made.
(c) The film shall be of archival quality.
(d) Courts shall rely on the Missouri State Archives or on a vendor whose process meets standards established by the Missouri State Archives to develop their microfilm.
(e) The original roll shall be securely stored in a separate humidity and temperature controlled environment that is fire resistant. The copy shall be retained by the custodian of records.
(f) The film shall be properly labeled and indexed:
(1) Each roll of film shall be labeled with the roll number, type(s) of case(s) filmed, and the date the roll was filmed. The case number(s) of the filmed cases shall appear on the label, on a separate sheet maintained inside the box, or on the final page of information filmed on the roll.
For existing microfiche, the case number shall appear on the index strip at the top of the microfiche.
(2) The microfilm roll number shall be entered on the index to cases or other permanent index.
(g) Arrangements shall be made by the court for public viewing and reproduction of the microfilm or microfiche if requested (this is applicable only if paper records are destroyed):
(1) There shall be a microfilm/fiche reader available where the public may view the film/fiche within the courthouse.
(2) There shall be a printer available for making copies within the courthouse.
(h) Images captured on microfilm or microfiche shall meet standards for inspection adopted by the Missouri State Archives. Documents having images that do not meet the standards shall be re-filmed and re-indexed.
(i) If the original microfilm or microfiche is maintained locally, the film shall be reviewed every three years to insure good quality. If the quality is deteriorating, the court shall make arrangements for immediate duplication of the original. The custodian of records shall maintain written certification of such review.
(j) Confidential or sealed records shall be microfilmed, processed, and identified as confidential, or sealed and maintained separately to protect the confidentiality of the records.
(Adopted September 10, 2009, effective January 1, 2010. Amended May 11, 2018, effective July 1, 2018.)