Missouri Court Case Search — Find Your Lawsuit

Dena Standley | October 19, 2022

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Searching for your court case status online is like ^^

Summary: Are you looking for your Missouri court case status online? Below is SoloSuit's guide on Missouri's civil court structure, how to find your case number and court records in the state, and how to respond to a Missouri lawsuit.

Finding your lawsuit in Missouri has been made easy with the Missouri Public Records Law in place. This law protects the public's right to access and copy court records. Details of various judicial activities, such as debt collection cases, arrest warrants, court pleas, records, and sentencing, are available to promote a transparent system.

The Missouri State Court Management System has assisted the general public in accessing their records through Case.net. This site is the official Missouri platform for uploading all court records from all counties. CaseNet allows registered users to access all documents filed with the courts, including debt-collection lawsuits.

In addition, a lawyer's qualification to practice law in Missouri can also be verified on the Lawyer Directory - The Missouri Bar.

Let's take a look at an example.

Example: Randy, who has a debt with American Express Credit Card; they call to inform him that they will sue him if he doesn't make a down payment in 24 hours. After receiving the lawsuit a week later, he logged in to www.courts.mo.gov, entered his full name and case number, and was able to view the case details. Randy can also follow up on the Answer document he responds with and the future case proceedings on the same platform.

This article will teach you about Missouri's civil court structure, how to find your court case number and records online, and how to respond to a lawsuit.

Let's jump right in.

Understand Missouri's civil court structure

In order to be able to search for your case status online, you need to know which court has jurisdiction over the type of case you are involved in. When you understand how Missouri's court structure works, it's easier for you to find your case. The Missouri court system has three levels:

The Supreme Court: This is the highest Court in Missouri and hears cases regarding state laws, senior state officials, the death penalty, and appeals of cases with public interest.
Intermediate Appellate Courts: These courts are also known as the Missouri Courts of Appeal. They hear appeal cases from the Civil Trial Courts.
Trial Courts: Consists of Municipal Courts, Circuit Courts, and Administrative Hearing Commission.

All debt collection cases in Missouri are initiated in the Circuit Court. Cases involving less than $5,000 will be assigned to the Small Claims Court. All cases involving $5,000-$25,000 are considered Associate Division cases. Finally, any other cases with more than $25,000 in question are labeled as regular civil cases. Even though they might be classified differently, they all fall under the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court.

If appealed, civil cases may be transferred to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.

The graphic below illustrates Missouri's civil court structure:

Missouri court structure

To help you find your lawsuit, let's look at how you can access your file.

Find your court case number in Missouri

A case number is given to each case file to enable proper record keeping of all case developments. The case number also helps to identify when the case was filed, in which county and court it was filed, and who is in charge of the case.

If you haven't received your case number, you can make an official request to the court clerk in person or online on the Missouri Case.net website. The online platform allows you to retrieve diverse information such as case number, attorney's name, filing date, hearing date, and judgment index. To locate a case number in the platform, you need to:

Click on the case number icon, and you will be taken to a new page.
Select the court your case was filed.
Check for your name or the creditor's name.
Click on it and access your case number. If your case is not there, wait for at least 3–5 days from the date the case was filed and check again. If you still can't find it, try calling the court clerk.

If you decide to find your case number in person, the court clerk will guide you on what forms to fill, although some counties require you to submit the request via mail.

Find your court records in Missouri

The first step is to identify the court your case will be tried; the court is usually indicated in the lawsuit letter. Next, look for contact information such as a physical and mailing address, phone number, and email on the Missouri Courts Online Directory. Afterward, mail your request or visit the courthouse and get the copies at a small fee.

Online access to the Case.net portal is usually the best method to use once you become a registered user. When you open the portal, you will enter the necessary details, as explained earlier. The table below shows how the search results will appear.

Missouri Case.net Search Results Appearance
Case Subject	Case Details
Case header	Filing date Case type Disposition status Specific court Name of both lawyers
Lawyers and parties	Names of both lawyers Names of both parties
Docket entries	Motions Exhibits Notices Subpeonas Summons

Below is an example of a real case available online: Timothy Snow sued Transworld Systems, Inc for a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violation. The court record appeared as follows:

Case number: 4:21-cv-00066-JCH
Judge: Jean C. Hamilton
Court type: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: Best St. Louis Consumer Law Lawyer Directory
Defendant's Attorney: Michael S. Hamlin
Description: A St. Louis, Missouri consumer sued Transworld Systems for FDCPA violation. The plaintiff filed the case in the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit, St. Louis City, MO, 2022-AC11517.
Outcome: Joint stipulation for dismissal was ordered and signed by Judge Jean, and the date indicated.

Missouri case search on Case.net is free, but other processing activities come at a small fee. Not all cases are available online, such as those involving minors, law enforcement officers, judicial officers, and sensitive criminal activity information. Debt collection cases are all accessible online and in the courthouse.

Respond to a civil lawsuit in Missouri

Once you receive a lawsuit in Missouri, you only have 30 days to respond before you lose by default. The first step to winning your debt lawsuit is to respond with a written Answer. You can create an Answer document with SoloSuit's help in just 15 minutes. Follow these six tips to draft an Answer that will help you present a strong case to the court:

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate