Supreme Court of Missouri
en banc

In re:

(1) Repeal of subdivision 2.04, entitled “Access to Case Records," of Court Operating Rule 2, entitled "Public Access to Records of the Judicial Department," and in lieu thereof adoption of a new subdivision 2.04, entitled “Access to Case Records."

(2) Repeal of subdivision 4.03, entitled "Official Court Record - Composition," subdivision 4.04.1, entitled "Courts Using an Automated Case Management System Approved for Statewide Use by the State Judicial Records Committee," and subdivision 4.05, entitled "File Numbers: Criminal and Juvenile Cases," of Court Operating Rule 4, entitled "Uniform Record Keeping System," and in lieu thereof adoption of a new subdivision 4.03, entitled "Official Court Record - Composition," a new subdivision 4.04.1, entitled "Courts Using an Automated Case Management System Approved for Statewide Use by the State Judicial Records Committee," and a new subdivision 4.05, entitled "File Numbers: Criminal, Juvenile, Dissolution and Paternity Cases."




1.  It is ordered that effective January 1, 2010, subdivision 2.04 of Court Operating Rule 2 be and the same is hereby repealed and a new subdivision 2.04 adopted in lieu thereof to read as follows:

COURT OPERATING RULE 2.04 -   ACCESS TO CASE RECORDS

(a) Public records from which a person can be identified will be made available upon request only by inquiry of a single case or by accessing any public index. Electronic public indexes will be available by:


(1) Case number;
(2) File date;
(3) Party name;
(4) Calendar date.

An index may contain the above elements plus case title, case type, and status.

(b) Electronic records that are public and from which a person can be identified will include only the following data elements, if not confidential by statute or rule:

Civil Cases


(1) Attorneys' addresses;
(2) Attorneys' names;
(3) Calendar dates;
(4) Case number;
(5) Case type;
(6) Date of birth;
(7) Disposition type;
(8) Docket entries;
(9) File date;
(10) General execution, garnishment, and sequestration information as provided in Court Operating Rule 4.19.1 and indexing number if available;
(11) Trial judge currently assigned;
(12) Trial judge at disposition;
(13) Judgment or appellate decision;
(14) Judgment or appellate mandate date;
(15) Party address;
(16) Party name and type;
(17) Satisfaction of judgment date.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no case filed under chapter 455, RSMo, (adult and child protection orders) shall be publicly available electronically either through a public index under 2.03(a) or single case display under this section unless a full order of protection has been granted by the court.

Criminal Cases 


(1) Appellate mandate date;
(2) Appellate opinion;
(3) Attorneys' addresses;
(4) Attorneys' names;
(5) Bail amount;
(6) Calendar dates;
(7) Case number;
(8) Case type;
(9) Pending charges;
(10) Date of birth;
(11) Defendant address;
(12) Defendant name;
(13) Disposition type;
(14) Docket entries;
(15) File date;
(16) Finding and finding date;
(17) Judgment and judgment date;
(18) Sentence and sentence date and offenses for which sentenced;
(19) Trial judge currently assigned;
(20) Trial judge at disposition;
(21) Law enforcement agency;
(22) Offense tracking number;
(23) Violation code, date and description;
(24) Suspended imposition of sentence prior to successful completion of probation.

(c) If available in an electronic format, liens on real estate pursuant to chapter 429, RSMo, during the time they are enforceable as liens, judgments, orders, and decrees may be made remotely accessible to the public if not confidential by statute or rule.

2.  It is ordered that effective January 1, 2010, subdivision 4.03, subdivision 4.04.1, and subdivision 4.05 of Court Operating Rule 4 be and the same are hereby repealed and a new subdivision 4.03, a new subdivision 4.04.1, and a new subdivision 4.05 adopted in lieu thereof to read as follows:

COURT OPERATING RULE 4.03 - OFFICIAL COURT RECORD – COMPOSITION

1) The official court record in all cases, except those involving the summary administration of an estate, shall consist of:


a) All documents filed from initiation to final termination of the case; and

b) Court docket sheet or backer sheet.  No docket sheet or backer sheet is required for cases involving the summary administration of an estate.

2) A backer sheet may be used for cases initiated by uniform citation, including traffic, municipal, civil infraction, conservation, and watercraft cases.

a) If used for non-traffic ordinance cases or for the more serious traffic offenses, e.g., DWI, BAC, driving while revoked, driving while suspended, leaving the scene of an accident, or fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, the backer sheet must include the same elements required for a court docket sheet.  (See COR 4.08.)

b) If used for watercraft, conservation or other traffic cases, the backer sheet should contain the following information, if applicable, and if not available from the court’s copy of the citation or from an automated system:


(1) Case number;
(2) Defendant’s name;
(3) Offense as filed and charge at disposition;
(4) Date filed;
(5) Bond type and amount;
(6) Whether license is being held in lieu of cash;
(7) Defense attorney;
(8) Court date(s);
(9) Date notice sent for failure to appear or pay;
(10) Date nonresident violator compact notice issued to defendant;
(11) Date suspension notice/ nonresident violator compact notice/ In Lieu of Bond Form sent to Department of Revenue;
(12) Date compliance notice sent to Department of Revenue;
(13) Date(s) warrant(s) issued/ returned/ withdrawn;
(14) Judge;
(15) Date disposed and manner of disposition;
(16) Sentence;
(17) Date record of conviction/ abstract of court record sent to Missouri State Highway Patrol;
(18) Date application for trial de novo/ request for jury trial filed; and
(19) Date probation violation ordered.

See Appendix for sample backer sheet.


COURT OPERATING RULE 4.04 - FILE NUMBERS



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4.04.1 Courts Using an Automated Case Management System Approved for Statewide Use by the State Judicial Records Committee

1) Converted Construct

Numbers assigned prior to implementation of the automated case management system and entered into the automated system shall be converted in substantially the following format:

a) 2-digit circuit number;

b) Alphabetic code reflecting the case category:



Case Category	Code
Criminal Traffic Civil Juvenile Probate Mental Health Municipal Traffic Municipal Ordinance Municipal Criminal Administrative Orders Transcript Judgments Mechanics’/Materialmen’s Liens	R T V J P H M O U AO TJ ML







c) 2-digit physical filing location number as assigned by the Office of State Courts Administrator;

d) 2-digit numeric code representing the year that the case was filed, e.g., “02” for cases filed in 2002; and

e) Same consecutive number assigned to the case when filed.

2) Interim Construct


a) Numbers assigned after implementation of the automated case management system and before January 1, 2004, shall be in the following format for all except cases initiated by uniform citation:


(1) 2-digit numeric code representing the year that the case was filed, e.g. “02” for cases filed in 2002;

(2) 2-digit alphabetic code for the case type:



Case Category	Code
Criminal Traffic Civil Juvenile Probate Mental Health Family Court Municipal Miscellaneous	CR TR CV JU PR MH FC MU MC

(3) 6-digit sequential number assigned by the system.  

b) The uniform citation number, as assigned by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, shall serve as the file number for less serious traffic cases and for civil infraction, watercraft and conservation cases initiated by uniform citation.

3) New Construct


a) Numbers assigned after implementation of the automated case management system shall be in the following format for all except cases initiated by uniform citation:


(1) 2-digit year (numeric)
(2) 2-digit location code (alpha, alpha-numeric, or numeric) – circuit number can be used in a single county, consolidated court
(3) Hyphen
(4) 2-digit case category (alpha)
(5) 5-digit sequential number, starting with "00001" for the first case filed within case category and location (numbering starts over at the beginning of each year)
(6) Hyphen
(7) 2-digit sub-case code


b) The following comprise the minimum list of 2 digit case categories used in the circuit:



Case Category	Code
Criminal Traffic Civil Juvenile Probate Municipal Ordinance County Ordinance Miscellaneous Juvenile Referral Treatment Court	CR TR CV JU PR MU CY MC JR TC


c) The court en banc may choose to use optional additional case categories for case number assignment.  The following comprise the optional case categories that may be used in the case number. The Court en Banc may chose any of the following options to further define the case number:



Instead of CV, use:
Circuit Civil	CC
Associate Civil	AC
Provide a separate case category for Small Claims	SC
Provide a separate case category for Domestic Relations	DR
Provide a separate case category for Protection Orders	PN
Provide a separate case category for Family Court cases	FC
Provide a separate case category for Administrative Orders for Child Support	AD
Provide a separate case category for Mechanic’s Liens	ML
Provide a separate case category for Transcript Judgments	TJ
Provide a separate case category for Mental Health	MH



d) The case numbering system will be consistent for all divisions within the circuit.   The list of case categories for the case number will be selected by the court en banc when the circuit implements JIS and may be changed effective January 1st of any subsequent year.   For courts on JIS on the effective date of this COR 4, the court en banc will decide if the new case number format is initiated January 1, 2004 or January 1, 2005.

4) The uniform citation number, as assigned by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, shall serve as the file number for less serious traffic cases and for civil infraction, watercraft and conservation cases initiated by uniform citation.


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COURT OPERATING RULE 4.05 - FILE NUMBERS: CRIMINAL, JUVENILE, DISSOLUTION AND PATERNITY CASES

1) A separate file number shall be assigned to each defendant named in a criminal complaint or information and the file numbers shall be related in the automated case management system for scheduling and other processing.

2) A separate file number shall be assigned to each child named in a petition filed pursuant to section 211.091, RSMo and the file numbers shall be related in the automated case management system for scheduling and other processing.

3) Dissolutions and paternity actions shall be filed separately. A separate case number shall be assigned for each dissolution and each paternity action filed and shall be related in the automated case management system for scheduling and other processing.

3.  It is ordered that notice of this order be published in the Journal of The Missouri Bar.

4.  It is ordered that this order be published in the South Western Reporter.

5.  The state courts administrator shall provide copies of this order to every presiding circuit court judge and circuit clerk and such other persons as the administrator deems appropriate.

Day - to - Day

___________________________
WILLIAM RAY PRICE, JR.
Chief Justice