Research Room

Missouri Judicial Records

Judicial records not only contain a wealth of information about the history of the judicial system in Missouri but also a wealth of information about individuals and families of Missouri. The Missouri State Archives holds records from the Supreme Court of Missouri, Appellate Courts, and County and Municipal Courts.

Supreme Court of Missouri

Case files and papers of all hearings before the Territorial Court (1804-1820) and the Supreme Court of Missouri (1821-present). The Missouri Supreme Court Historical Database provides an index and abstract of the criminal and civil court cases that were appealed to the territorial and state Supreme Court of Missouri up to 1861, and a partial listing of cases to 1871. Appellant and Respondent index is available to court cases after 1871.

Appellate Courts

Case files from the Eastern, Western, and Southern district appeals courts. Access to this collection is through case number.

County and Municipal Courts

Case files and court records from many of the counties are available on microfilm at the Missouri State Archives. A roll-by-roll listing of County and Municipal Records on Microfilm provides access to the collection. Online resources include:

Missouri Judicial Records
St. Louis Circuit Court Historical Records Project
St. Louis Probate Court Digitization Project (now a part of Missouri Judicial Records)

Missouri Judicial Index Database

The Judicial Index database provides an index and abstract of selected civil, criminal and probate court cases a county’s court to the Supreme Court. Through this database researchers are now able to gain insights to daily life through county court records or follow a court case from the county level all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Please note this database is an index to assist researchers in locating information found in the original microfilmed records. The database index provides a microfilm reel number(s) where researchers can locate the original record. This is an ongoing indexing project. Additional indexes will be added to the database as they become available.

If you have questions or comments about these records please contact the Missouri State Archives at[email protected].