Information on Missouri outstanding warrants and arrest records is maintained by judicial as well as law enforcement offices working at the state and county levels. Within your area, you are likely to find details on crime history from the department of the county clerk, the court of the magistrate or the police. Arrest warrants are issued by local tribunals when a request is made for these directives by the sheriff’s office.
When a crime is committed against a resident of the state or the country, it is considered a violation of Missouri laws and as such the state is obligated to interfere in the matter and try the culprit who is responsible for commissioning the nefarious act. A specific process is followed when handling the prosecution of adult criminals and this is known as the criminal procedure of the state. Everything from the issue of Missouri arrest warrants to the eventual sentencing of the offender form a part of this process.
The assimilation, maintenance and dissemination of crime history data has been entrusted to the state Highway patrol in Missouri. Active warrants, arrest records, information pertaining to case dispositions and more are all kept by the Crime Justice Information Service, a division of MSHP. Together these state departments have served as the central repository of fingerprints and crime history records since 1934.
The judicial system of Missouri is divided into three levels that include the trial tribunals, known as the circuit courts; the intermediate appellate courts known as the Court of Appeals which functions across three regional divisions and the State Supreme Court which is the apex judicial body. The circuit tribunals are the primary trial courts and they have general jurisdiction in criminal as well as civil matters. These tribunals are housed across 45 regional circuits in the state.
Pursuant to the Criminal Code of state, section 544.20, a Missouri active warrant will be issued by an associate circuit judge when a complaint is made in writing or on oath which sets forth that a felonious incident has occurred and offers the name of the perpetrator thereof. If the magistrate can find probable cause, he/she is legally obligated to issue an order which recites the accusation and commands law enforcement officers to take the accused into custody.