The mission of Missouri State Records is to facilitate the use of every citizen’s right to detect, obtain, preview and examine public records. This ensures that residents of the state of Missouri are provided access to public information in correspondence with the Missouri Sunshine Act, which stipulates the necessity of keeping public records open and accessible to the general public.
The purpose of the requester is immaterial in most cases and does not affect a person’s right to obtain access to public records, meaning that the requester does not have to reveal a “need to know,” unless the record has been made confidential.
Missouri State Records grants information about the following subjects: criminal records, court records, vital records, and over 50 million public records.
Missouri public records have been created from as far back as the year of 1752 and contain information from 114 Missouri counties. Over the past three decades, digitization of records has become the standard, and websites both government and third party are starting to offer these records with increased reliability, thereby ensuring Missouri abides by the commitment of the United States of America to remain a fair and just society for all.