Search St. Louis City Court Records
Missouri Case.net is the first public search path for St. Louis City County court records. It covers public Missouri circuit cases and, after the municipal migration, current or pending St. Louis City Municipal Court citations and court dates. The city court page states that Municourt.net is no longer available for St. Louis City Municipal Court cases, so older bookmarks to that site should be skipped.
Use a case number when one is known. A city circuit case number often starts with a year and a 22SL code, such as criminal, associate civil, civil circuit, or probate case-type letters. When the number is not known, search by litigant name, business name, filing date, or scheduled hearing. Certified copies, older files, and documents not shown online still go through the St. Louis Circuit Clerk.
- Open Case.net and choose the search path that fits the information you have.
- Use case number search for an exact match, or litigant name search when only a person or business name is known.
- Review the court, division, party names, filing date, and case type before relying on a result.
- Open the docket entries to confirm hearings, warrants, motions, judgments, costs, or case status.
- For official use, request a certified copy from the Circuit Clerk instead of relying on a screenshot.
The 22nd Judicial Circuit homepage is a useful companion source because it links to judges, the Circuit Clerk, Probate Court, Family Court, local rules, public records, certified copies, trial calendars, and rolling dockets.
St. Louis City Court System
St. Louis City County court records sit in a Missouri circuit court structure. The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest state court, and appeals from St. Louis City generally route to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District. The trial court is the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court, which handles civil, criminal, domestic, probate, juvenile, associate circuit, and other division work.
Municipal Court has a narrower role. It handles city ordinance violations, many traffic citations, municipal warrants, Metro fare violations, and related payment or appearance issues. It is local in function, but municipal matters are now searched through Case.net. That move is one of the most important St. Louis City County court access changes because it affects traffic dates, bench warrants, and municipal case lookups.
The official court source for the 22nd Judicial Circuit is shown on the 22nd Judicial Circuit homepage.
The court site is the local entry point for division, docket, clerk, probate, family, treatment court, and public record links.
| Court | Role | Common Records |
|---|---|---|
| 22nd Judicial Circuit Court | Primary state trial court for St. Louis City | Civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, associate circuit, judgments, dockets |
| St. Louis City Municipal Court | Municipal ordinance and traffic court | City citations, payable traffic matters, municipal bench warrants, court dates |
| Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District | Intermediate appeal court | Appeals from St. Louis City circuit cases |
| U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri | Federal trial court | Federal civil, criminal, bankruptcy-related, and PACER docket records |
Case flow: Municipal or associate circuit matter > Circuit Court division > Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District > Supreme Court of Missouri when review is available.
St. Louis City Courthouses
The 22nd Judicial Circuit operates from two downtown landmark buildings. The Clyde S. Cahill Courts Building is the main civil-court address and houses court administration, the Circuit Clerk presence, and the Probate Division on the 10th floor. The Mel Carnahan Courthouse houses many criminal and associate circuit functions, as well as the Circuit Attorney and State Public Defender trial office. Municipal Court is nearby at the city government complex, but it is not the same office as the Circuit Clerk.
Clyde S. Cahill Courts Building
10 North Tucker Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63101
314-622-4500
Mel Carnahan Courthouse
1114 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63101
Circuit Attorney: 314-622-4941
St. Louis City Court Record Types
St. Louis City County court records include more than one kind of file. Civil records can include petitions, answers, motions, summons returns, judgments, garnishments, and appeals. Criminal records can include complaints, informations, indictments, charge amendments, bond entries, pleas, hearings, verdicts, sentences, probation terms, warrants, and costs.
Family and domestic records are handled in the circuit system, including divorce, custody, paternity, child support, and protection order filings when public. Probate records cover estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, and disabled or incapacitated adult matters. Juvenile records are different because juvenile court access is restricted by Missouri law and court orders.
- Civil cases: suits, judgments, garnishments, executions, satisfaction entries, and appeals.
- Criminal cases: charges, docket entries, pleas, motions, disposition, sentencing, costs, and warrants.
- Family cases: divorce, custody, paternity, support, adult abuse, and protection matters where public.
- Probate cases: estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, and minor estate matters.
- Traffic and municipal cases: city citations, ordinance violations, payable cases, and court dates.
What St. Louis City Records Show
Public case records usually show the framework of the case rather than every document image. A St. Louis City County court record may show the case number, case style, court, judicial circuit, division, filing date, status, parties, attorneys, judge or commissioner, scheduled hearings, docket events, charge details, financial entries, judgments, and disposition. Some filings may be listed without being downloadable to the public.
The judge and commissioner list helps users match a division number to a courtroom or contact field. The official source for that division information is the judges and commissioners list.
Division data is useful when a docket gives only a division or courtroom reference and a user needs to confirm where the case is assigned.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | Missouri circuit identifier, often with 22SL and case-type letters. |
| Caption or style | State v. defendant, plaintiff v. defendant, petitioner/respondent, or estate caption. |
| Docket entries | Chronological filings, notices, hearings, motions, continuances, warrants, orders, and judgments. |
| Disposition | Final result, such as judgment, dismissal, plea, sentence, or charge outcome. |
| Financials | Costs, fines, restitution, bond entries, payment plan notes, or balances where public. |
St. Louis City Certified Copies
The Circuit Clerk handles certified and non-certified copies of public court documents. The 22nd Circuit certified copy instructions direct users to email the request, then wait for a Certified Copies Department response with an estimate and payment instructions. Law firms may establish accounts through the cashier's office by calling 314-622-4020.
Certified copy fees are not published as a complete page-by-page schedule in the accessible text, so the researched path is estimate-first. Probate filings have a separate fee schedule. Marriage licenses are handled by the Recorder of Deeds, not the Circuit Clerk, and the marriage license fee is listed by the city as $60 total.
| Item | Amount or Rule |
|---|---|
| Circuit court certified or non-certified copies | Estimate provided after email request |
| Law firm account setup | Call cashier at 314-622-4020 |
| Probate appeal filing | $70 |
| Probate publication costs | Paid directly to publisher after invoice |
| Marriage license | $60 nonrefundable total |
| Missouri DOR driver record | $2.82, plus $2 office processing fee at license office |
St. Louis City Public Access
Missouri public access starts with the Sunshine Law, but court records also depend on court rules, sealing orders, and case-specific restrictions. The public path for a normal St. Louis City County court record is Case.net first, then the Circuit Clerk for copies, older records, missing documents, or certified records. City agency records, police records, Medical Examiner records, and other city department records use the city GOV/QA Sunshine process instead of the Circuit Clerk.
Key Statutes:
RSMo 610.010 defines public records and public governmental bodies under Missouri Sunshine Law.
RSMo 610.023 requires public governmental bodies to make records available and designate a custodian.
RSMo 610.100 governs law-enforcement arrest reports and investigative record access.
RSMo 610.105 closes certain criminal records after dismissal, acquittal, or nolle prosequi.
Restricted St. Louis City Records
Not every case is public. Juvenile matters, adoption files, mental health proceedings, sealed cases, expunged cases, confidential addresses, sensitive financial account data, Social Security numbers, medical details, and some minor identities are restricted. Missouri Supreme Court Operating Rule 2 requires filers to protect personal and sensitive information, and the Municipal Court attorney instructions remind attorneys that filers carry the redaction duty.
Expungement is handled through a Missouri court case, not through a search website. A person must identify the eligible arrests, charges, or convictions, file the correct petition, pay the filing fee or seek a waiver, and serve the required agencies. Prosecutors and agencies may object. If the court grants expungement, the public record should not be treated like an ordinary searchable case.
Note: Juvenile records in St. Louis City should not be described as public adult criminal records.
St. Louis City Specialty Courts
St. Louis Treatment Court diverts some alcohol- and drug-abusing offenders from the normal criminal process by using judicial oversight, intensive supervision, and treatment. Adult Treatment Court can include substance-abuse treatment, random drug and alcohol testing, probation or case-manager meetings, and regular appearances before commissioners. Staff review progress before court in a non-adversarial setting.
The official Treatment Court services page also describes Veterans Court and Family Treatment Court.
Veterans Court may offer a treatment-focused path for eligible veterans with mental health or substance-use issues, while Family Treatment Court supports parents whose addiction issues affect family cases.
St. Louis City Inmate Lookup
St. Louis City does not operate the same way as a county sheriff jail roster. Local custody records are handled by the City of St. Louis Division of Corrections and the City Justice Center. The official inmate locator searches active detainees and people released in the past 72 hours. It lets users search by last name, first name, active inmate filter, or recent-release filter, and it warns that custody data changes quickly.
The City Justice Center is at 200 South Tucker Boulevard and runs 24 hours. It has a listed capacity of 860. The researched custody count from the official corrections page showed 801 people confined across facilities on June 21, 2026, which should be treated as a dated snapshot rather than a live count. The full roster, visit, money, and records channels are covered in St. Louis City County inmate records.
St. Louis City Probate Records
Marriage licenses and marriage copies are handled by the City of St. Louis Recorder of Deeds and Vital Records Registrar at City Hall. Divorce files and certified divorce decrees are handled by the Circuit Clerk because divorce is a court case. Probate records are in the Probate Division of the Circuit Court, with current public cases searched through Case.net and older matters searched through the Historical Probate Case Index.
The official Family Court and Juvenile Division page shows why domestic and juvenile records need careful routing.
Family court files may contain restricted details, while probate and marriage records follow different clerk or recorder request paths.
- Testator
- A person who made a will.
- Executor
- A person appointed to carry out a will or estate order.
- Conservator
- A person appointed to manage property or finances for a minor or incapacitated adult.
- Guardian
- A person appointed to handle care or custody decisions for a minor or incapacitated adult.
Federal Court Records in St. Louis
Federal court records are separate from St. Louis City County court records. Federal criminal cases, federal civil rights suits, employment-discrimination cases, prisoner civil rights actions, federal habeas matters, diversity cases, and federal-question suits are handled by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The federal courthouse is the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse at 111 South 10th Street.
Federal docket and document access usually goes through PACER and Eastern District CM/ECF. Bankruptcy cases are handled through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and appeals from federal district court go to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
St. Louis City Court History
The 22nd Judicial Circuit traces local court history to the city's first courthouse in 1828. The current court works from the Clyde S. Cahill Courts Building and the Mel Carnahan Courthouse. The civil courts building was renamed in December 2024 for Clyde S. Cahill, one of St. Louis's first Black judges. That name change is recent enough that older court-record resources may still use the former building name.
The Circuit Clerk's historical file count is also unusual. Official research says the office maintains roughly 5,000,000 court files from 1804 to present and handles about 40,000 new civil and criminal case filings each year. Historical probate coverage reaches decedent estates filed from 1890 through May 31, 2000, and guardianships filed from 1815 through May 31, 2000.
St. Louis City Court FAQs
Is St. Louis City the same court system as St. Louis County? No. St. Louis City is an independent city with the 22nd Judicial Circuit. St. Louis County uses the 21st Judicial Circuit in Clayton.
Where should a St. Louis City court records search start? Start with Case.net for public circuit and municipal cases. Contact the Circuit Clerk when a copy, certification, older file, or non-online document is needed.
Where are St. Louis City traffic tickets searched? Municipal traffic cases are now searched in Case.net. The city says Municourt.net is no longer available for those cases.
Who has marriage and divorce records? Marriage records are with the Recorder of Deeds Marriage Department. Divorce decrees and divorce case files are Circuit Clerk records.
Can an online docket replace a certified copy? No. A certified copy must come from the clerk or issuing court office and has official authentication.
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