September 05, 2018
Author: Galen Beaufort
Organization: City of Kansas City, Missouri
Sec. 610.011 - Liberal construction of law to be public policy.
610.011. 1. It is the public policy of this state that meetings, records, votes, actions, and deliberations of public governmental bodies be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law. Sections 610.010 to 610.200 shall be liberally construed and their exceptions strictly construed to promote this public policy.
2. Except as otherwise provided by law, all public meetings of public governmental bodies shall be open to the public as set forth in section 610.020, all public records of public governmental bodies shall be open to the public for inspection and copying as set forth in sections 610.023 to 610.026, and all public votes of public governmental bodies shall be recorded as set forth in section 610.015.
Sec. 610.023 - Records of governmental bodies to be in care of custodian, duties—records may be copied but not removed, exception, procedure--denial of access, procedure.
610.023. 1. Each public governmental body is to appoint a custodian who is to be responsible for the maintenance of that body's records. The identity and location of a public governmental body's custodian is to be made available upon request.
2. Each public governmental body shall make available for inspection and copying by the public of that body's public records. No person shall remove original public records from the office of a public governmental body or its custodian without written permission of the designated custodian. No public governmental body shall, after August 28, 1998, grant to any person or entity, whether by contract, license or otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any public record unless the granting of such right is necessary to facilitate coordination with, or uniformity among, industry regulators having similar authority.
3. Each request for access to a public record shall be acted upon as soon as possible, but in no event later than the end of the third business day following the date the request is received by the custodian of records of a public governmental body. If records are requested in a certain format, the public body shall provide the records in the requested format, if such format is available. If access to the public record is not granted immediately, the custodian shall give a detailed explanation of the cause for further delay and the place and earliest time and date that the record will be available for inspection. This period for document production may exceed three days for reasonable cause.
4. If a request for access is denied, the custodian shall provide, upon request, a written statement of the grounds for such denial. Such statement shall cite the specific provision of law under which access is denied and shall be furnished to the requester no later than the end of the third business day following the date that the request for the statement is received.
Sec. 610.035 - State entity not to disclose Social Security number, exceptions.
610.035. No state entity shall publicly disclose any Social Security number of a living person unless such disclosure is permitted by federal law, federal regulation or state law or unless such disclosure is authorized by the holder of that Social Security number or unless such disclosure is for use in connection with any civil, criminal, administrative or arbitral proceeding in any federal, state or local court or agency or before any self-regulatory body, including the service of process, investigation in anticipation of litigation and the execution or enforcement of judgments and orders, or pursuant to an order of a federal, state or local court. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the disclosure of Social Security numbers of deceased persons shall be lawful, provided that the state agency disclosing the information knows of no reason why such disclosure would prove detrimental to the deceased individual's estate or harmful to the deceased individual's living relatives. For the purposes of this section, \"publicly disclose\" shall not include the use of any Social Security number by any state entity in the performance of any statutory or constitutional duty or power or the disclosure of any Social Security number to another state entity, political subdivision, agency of the federal government, agency of another state or any private person or entity acting on behalf of, or in cooperation with, a state entity. Any person or entity receiving a Social Security number from any entity shall be subject to the same confidentiality provisions as the disclosing entity. For purposes of this section, \"state entity\" means any state department, division, agency, bureau, board, commission, employee or any agent thereof. When responding to any requests for public information pursuant to this chapter, any costs incurred by any state entity complying with the provisions of this section may be charged to the requester of such information.
Sec. 610.100 - Definitions--arrest and incident records shall be available to public—closed records, when--record redacted, when--access to incident reports, record redacted, when-- action for disclosure of investigative report authorized, costs--application to open incident and arrest reports, violations, civil penalty--identity of victim of sexual offense.
610.100. 1. As used in sections 610.100 to 610.150, the following words and phrases shall mean:
(1) \"Arrest\", an actual restraint of the person of the defendant, or by his or her submission to the custody of the officer, under authority of a warrant or otherwise for a criminal violation which results in the issuance of a summons or the person being booked;
(2) \"Arrest report\", a record of a law enforcement agency of an arrest and of any detention or confinement incident thereto together with the charge therefor;
(3) \"Inactive\", an investigation in which no further action will be taken by a law enforcement agency or officer for any of the following reasons:
(a) A decision by the law enforcement agency not to pursue the case;
(b) Expiration of the time to file criminal charges pursuant to the applicable statute of limitations, or ten years after the commission of the offense; whichever date earliest occurs;
(c) Finality of the convictions of all persons convicted on the basis of the information contained in the investigative report, by exhaustion of or expiration of all rights of appeal of such persons;
(4) \"Incident report\", a record of a law enforcement agency consisting of the date, time, specific location, name of the victim and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident, including any logs of reported crimes, accidents and complaints maintained by that agency;
(5) \"Investigative report\", a record, other than an arrest or incident report, prepared by personnel of a law enforcement agency, inquiring into a crime or suspected crime, either in response to an incident report or in response to evidence developed by law enforcement officers in the course of their duties.
2. Each law enforcement agency of this state, of any county, and of any municipality shall maintain records of all incidents reported to the agency, investigations and arrests made by such law enforcement agency. All incident reports and arrest reports shall be open records.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law other than the provisions of subsections 4, 5 and 6 of this section or section 320.083, investigative reports of all law enforcement agencies are closed records until the investigation becomes inactive. If any person is arrested and not charged with an offense against the law within thirty days of the person's arrest, the arrest report shall thereafter be a closed record except that the disposition portion of the record may be accessed and except as provided in section 610.120.
3. Except as provided in subsections 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this section, if any portion of a record or document of a law enforcement officer or agency, other than an arrest report, which would otherwise be open, contains information that is reasonably likely to pose a clear and present danger to the safety of any victim, witness, undercover officer, or other person; or jeopardize a criminal investigation, including records which would disclose the identity of a source wishing to remain confidential or a suspect not in custody; or which would disclose techniques, procedures or guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, that portion of the record shall be closed and shall be redacted from any record made available pursuant to this chapter.
4. Any person, including a family member of such person within the first degree of consanguinity if such person is deceased or incompetent, attorney for a person, or insurer of a person involved in any incident or whose property is involved in an incident, may obtain any records closed pursuant to this section or section 610.150 for purposes of investigation of any civil claim or defense, as provided by this subsection. Any individual, his or her family member within the first degree of consanguinity if such individual is deceased or incompetent, his or her attorney or insurer, involved in an incident or whose property is involved in an incident, upon written request, may obtain a complete unaltered and unedited incident report concerning the incident, and may obtain access to other records closed by a law enforcement agency pursuant to this section. Within thirty days of such request, the agency shall provide the requested material or file a motion pursuant to this subsection with the circuit court having jurisdiction over the law enforcement agency stating that the safety of the victim, witness or other individual cannot be reasonably ensured, or that a criminal investigation is likely to be jeopardized. If, based on such motion, the court finds for the law enforcement agency, the court shall either order the record closed or order such portion of the record that should be closed to be redacted from any record made available pursuant to this subsection.
5. Any person may bring an action pursuant to this section in the circuit court having jurisdiction to authorize disclosure of the information contained in an investigative report of any law enforcement agency, which would otherwise be closed pursuant to this section. The court may order that all or part of the information contained in an investigative report be released to the person bringing the action. In making the determination as to whether information contained in an investigative report shall be disclosed, the court shall consider whether the benefit to the person bringing the action or to the public outweighs any harm to the public, to the law enforcement agency or any of its officers, or to any person identified in the investigative report in regard to the need for law enforcement agencies to effectively investigate and prosecute criminal activity. The investigative report in question may be examined by the court in camera. The court may find that the party seeking disclosure of the investigative report shall bear the reasonable and necessary costs and attorneys' fees of both parties, unless the court finds that the decision of the law enforcement agency not to open the investigative report was substantially unjustified under all relevant circumstances, and in that event, the court may assess such reasonable and necessary costs and attorneys' fees to the law enforcement agency.
6. Any person may apply pursuant to this subsection to the circuit court having jurisdiction for an order requiring a law enforcement agency to open incident reports and arrest reports being unlawfully closed pursuant to this section. If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the law enforcement officer or agency has knowingly violated this section, the officer or agency shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount up to one thousand dollars. If the court finds that there is a knowing violation of this section, the court may order payment by such officer or agency of all costs and attorneys' fees, as provided by section 610.027. If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the law enforcement officer or agency has purposely violated this section, the officer or agency shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount up to five thousand dollars and the court shall order payment by such officer or agency of all costs and attorney fees, as provided in section 610.027. The court shall determine the amount of the penalty by taking into account the size of the jurisdiction, the seriousness of the offense, and whether the law enforcement officer or agency has violated this section previously.
7. The victim of an offense as provided in chapter 566 may request that his or her identity be kept confidential until a charge relating to such incident is filed.
Sec. 610.103 - Criminal background check completed without fee, when.
610.103. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, whenever a criminal background check is requested in connection with gaining employment, housing or any other services or benefit of any homeless former member of the organized militia or the Armed Forces of the United States who has been honorably discharged, such background check shall be completed and transmitted to the requesting party without any fee or other compensation for such background check or copy of any relevant public record pertaining to such request. For purposes of this section \"homeless\" means an involuntary state characterized by a lack of housing or shelter.
Sec. 610.105 - Effect of nolle pros--dismissal--sentence suspended on record--not guilty due to mental disease or defect, effect--official records available to victim in certain cases.
610.105. 1. If the person arrested is charged but the case is subsequently nolle prossed, dismissed, or the accused is found not guilty or imposition of sentence is suspended in the court in which the action is prosecuted, official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records when such case is finally terminated except as provided in subsection 2 of this section and section 610.120 and except that the court's judgment or order or the final action taken by the prosecutor in such matters may be accessed. If the accused is found not guilty due to mental disease or defect pursuant to section 552.030, official records pertaining to the case shall thereafter be closed records upon such findings, except that the disposition may be accessed only by law enforcement agencies, child-care agencies, facilities as defined in section 198.006, and in-home services provider agencies as defined in section 660.250, in the manner established by section 610.120.
2. If the person arrested is charged with an offense found in chapter 566, section 568.045, 568.050, 568.060, 568.065, 568.080, 568.090, or 568.175, and an imposition of sentence is suspended in the court in which the action is prosecuted, the official records pertaining to the case shall be made available to the victim for the purpose of using the records in his or her own judicial proceeding, or if the victim is a minor to the victim's parents or guardian, upon request.
Sec. 610.106 - Suspended sentence prior to September 28, 1981, procedure to close records.
Any person as to whom imposition of sentence was suspended prior to September 28, 1981, may make a motion to the court in which the action was prosecuted after his discharge from the court's jurisdiction for closure of official records pertaining to the case. If the prosecuting authority opposes the motion, an informal hearing shall be held in which technical rules of evidence shall not apply. Having regard to the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and character of the defendant and upon a finding that the ends of justice are so served, the court may order official records pertaining to the case to be closed, except as provided in section 610.120.
Sec. 610.110 — Failure to recite closed record excused—exceptions.
No person as to whom such records have become closed records shall thereafter, under any provision of law, be held to be guilty of perjury or otherwise of giving a false statement by reason of his failure to recite or acknowledge such arrest or trial in response to any inquiry made of him for any purpose, except as provided in section 491.050 and section 610.120.
Sec. 610.115 - Penalty.
610.115. A person who knowingly violates any provision of section 610.100, 610.105, 610.106, or 610.120 is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
Sec. 610.120 - Records to be confidential--accessible to whom, purposes.
610.120. 1. Records required to be closed shall not be destroyed; they shall be inaccessible to the general public and to all persons other than the defendant except as provided in this section and section 43.507. The closed records shall be available to: criminal justice agencies for the administration of criminal justice pursuant to section 43.500, criminal justice employment, screening persons with access to criminal justice facilities, procedures, and sensitive information; to law enforcement agencies for issuance or renewal of a license, permit, certification, or registration of authority from such agency including but not limited to watchmen, security personnel, private investigators, and persons seeking permits to purchase or possess a firearm; those agencies authorized by section 43.543 to submit and when submitting fingerprints to the central repository; the sentencing advisory commission created in section 558.019 for the purpose of studying sentencing practices in accordance with section 43.507; to qualified entities for the purpose of screening providers defined in section 43.540; the department of revenue for driver license administration; the division of workers' compensation for the purposes of determining eligibility for crime victims' compensation pursuant to sections 595.010 to 595.075, department of health and senior services for the purpose of licensing and regulating facilities and regulating in-home services provider agencies and federal agencies for purposes of criminal justice administration, criminal justice employment, child, elderly, or disabled care, and for such investigative purposes as authorized by law or presidential executive order.
2. These records shall be made available only for the purposes and to the entities listed in this section. A criminal justice agency receiving a request for criminal history information under its control may require positive identification, to include fingerprints of the subject of the record search, prior to releasing closed record information. Dissemination of closed and open records from the Missouri criminal records repository shall be in accordance with section 43.509. All records which are closed records shall be removed from the records of the courts, administrative agencies, and law enforcement agencies which are available to the public and shall be kept in separate records which are to be held confidential and, where possible, pages of the public record shall be retyped or rewritten omitting those portions of the record which deal with the defendant's case. If retyping or rewriting is not feasible because of the permanent nature of the record books, such record entries shall be blacked out and recopied in a confidential book.
Sec. 610.122 - Arrest record expunged, requirements.
610.122. Notwithstanding other provisions of law to the contrary, any record of arrest recorded pursuant to section 43.503 may be expunged if the court determines that the arrest was based on false information and the following conditions exist:
(1) There is no probable cause, at the time of the action to expunge, to believe the individual committed the offense;
(2) No charges will be pursued as a result of the arrest;
(3) The subject of the arrest has no prior or subsequent misdemeanor or felony convictions;
(4) The subject of the arrest did not receive a suspended imposition of sentence for the offense for which the arrest was made or for any offense related to the arrest; and
(5) No civil action is pending relating to the arrest or the records sought to be expunged.
Sec. 610.123 - Procedure to expunge, supreme court to promulgate rules--similar to small claims.
610.123. 1. Any person who wishes to have a record of arrest expunged pursuant to section
610.122 may file a verified petition for expungement in the civil division of the circuit court in the county of the arrest as provided in subsection 4 of this section. The petition shall include the following information or shall be dismissed if the information is not given:
(1) The petitioner's:
(a) Full name;
(b) Sex;
(c) Race;
(d) Date of birth;
(e) Driver's license number;
(f) Social Security number; and
(g) Address at the time of the arrest;
(2) The offense charged against the petitioner;
(3) The date the petitioner was arrested;
(4) The name of the county where the petitioner was arrested and if the arrest occurred in a municipality, the name of the municipality;
(5) The name of the agency that arrested the petitioner;
(6) The case number and court of the offense;
(7) Petitioner's fingerprints on a standard fingerprint card at the time of filing a petition to expunge a record that will be forwarded to the central repository for the sole purpose of positively identifying the petitioner.
2. The petition shall name as defendants all law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecuting attorneys, central state depositories of criminal records or others who the petitioner has reason to believe may possess the records subject to expungement. The court's order shall not affect any person or entity not named as a defendant in the action.
3. The court shall set a hearing on the matter no sooner than thirty days from the filing of the petition and shall give reasonable notice of the hearing to each official or agency or other entity named in the petition.
4. If the court finds that the petitioner is entitled to expungement of any record that is the subject of the petition, it shall enter an order directing expungement. Upon granting of the order of expungement, the records and files maintained in any administrative or court proceeding in an associate or circuit division of the circuit court under this section shall be confidential and only available to the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. A copy of the order shall be provided to each agency identified in the petition pursuant to subsection 2 of this section.
5. The supreme court shall promulgate rules establishing procedures for the handling of cases filed pursuant to the provisions of this section and section 610.122. Such procedures shall be similar to the procedures established in chapter 482 for the handling of small claims.
Sec. 610.124 - Destruction of arrest records--removal from all electronic files—FBI requested to expunge--protest to expungement, procedure.
610.124. 1. All records ordered to be expunged pursuant to section 610.123 shall be destroyed, except as provided in this section. If destruction of the record is not feasible because of the permanent nature of the record books, such record entries shall be blacked out. Entries of a record ordered expunged pursuant to section 610.123 shall be removed from all electronic files maintained with the state of Missouri. The central repository shall request the Federal Bureau of Investigation expunge the records from its files.
2. Any petitioner, or agency protesting the expungement, may appeal the court's decision in the same manner as provided for other civil actions.
Sec. 610.125 - Failure to comply with expungement order, penalty--knowingly using expunged record for gain, penalty.
610.125. 1. A person subject to an order of the court in subsection 4 of section 610.123 who knowingly fails to expunge or obliterate, or releases arrest information which has been ordered expunged pursuant to section 610.123 is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
2. A person subject to an order of the court in subsection 4 of section 610.123 who, knowing the records have been ordered expunged, uses the arrest information for financial gain is guilty of a class D felony.
Sec. 610.126 - Expungement does not deem arrest invalid--department of revenue may retain records necessary for administrative actions on driver's license--power to close or expunge record, limitation.
610.126. 1. An expungement of an arrest record shall not reflect on the validity of the arrest and shall not be construed to indicate a lack of probable cause for the arrest.
2. Except as provided by sections 610.122 to 610.126, the courts of this state shall have no legal or equitable authority to close or expunge any arrest record.
3. The petitioner shall not bring any action subsequent to the expungement against any person or agency relating to the arrest described in the expunged records.
Sec. 610.140 - Expungement of certain criminal records, petition, contents, procedure.
610.140. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to the provisions of this section, any person may apply to any court in which such person was found guilty of any of the offenses specified in subsection 2 of this section for an order to expunge recordations of such arrest, plea, trial, or conviction. A person may apply to have one or more offenses expunged so long as such person lists all the offenses he or she is seeking to have expunged in the same petition and so long as all such offenses are eligible under subsection 2 of this section.
2. The following offenses are eligible to be expunged when such offenses occurred within the state of Missouri and were prosecuted under the jurisdiction of a Missouri municipal associate or circuit court:
(1) Any felony or misdemeanor offense of passing a bad check under 570.120, fraudulently stopping payment of an instrument under 570.125, or fraudulent use of a credit device or debit device under section 570.130;
(2) Any misdemeanor offense of sections 569.065, 569.067, 569.090, subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of section 569.120, sections 569.140, 569.145, 572.020, 574.020, or 574.075; or
(3) Any class B or C misdemeanor offense of section 574.010.
3. The petition shall name as defendants all law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecuting or circuit attorneys, central state repositories of criminal records, or others who the petitioner has reason to believe may possess the records subject to expungement for each of the offenses listed in the petition. The court's order of expungement shall not affect any person or entity not named as a defendant in the action.
4. The petition shall be dismissed if it does not include the following information:
(1) The petitioner's:
(a) Full name;
(b) Sex;
(c) Race;
(d) Driver's license number, if applicable; and
(e) Current address;
(2) Each offense charged against the petitioner for which the petitioner is requesting expungement;
(3) The date the petitioner was arrested for each offense;
(4) The name of the county where the petitioner was arrested for each offense and if any of the offenses occurred in a municipality, the name of the municipality for each offense;
(5) The name of the agency that arrested the petitioner for each offense;
(6) The case number and name of the court for each offense; and
(7) Petitioner's fingerprints on a standard fingerprint card at the time of filing a petition for expungement which will be forwarded to the central repository for the sole purpose of positively identifying the petitioner.
5. The court may set a hearing on the matter no sooner than thirty days from the filing of the petition and shall give reasonable notice of the hearing to each entity named in the petition. At the hearing, the court may accept evidence and hear testimony on, and may consider, the following criteria for each of the offenses listed in the petition for expungement:
(1) It has been at least twenty years if the offense is a felony, or at least ten years if the offense is a misdemeanor, municipal offense, or infraction, since the person making the application completed:
(a) Any sentence of imprisonment; or
(b) Any period of probation or parole;
(2) The person has not been found guilty of a misdemeanor or felony, not including violations of the traffic regulations provided under chapters 304 and 307, during the time period specified for the underlying offense in subdivision (1) of this subsection;
(3) The person has paid any amount of restitution ordered by the court;
(4) The circumstances and behavior of the petitioner warrant the expungement; and
(5) The expungement is consistent with the public welfare.
6. If the court determines at the conclusion of the hearing that such person meets all the criteria set forth in subsection 5 of this section for each of the offenses listed in the petition for expungement, the court may enter an order of expungement. A copy of the order shall be provided to each entity named in the petition, and, upon receipt of the order, each entity shall destroy any record in its possession relating to any offense listed in the petition. If destruction of the record is not feasible because of the permanent nature of the record books, such record entries shall be blacked out. Entries of a record ordered expunged shall be removed from all electronic files maintained with the state of Missouri, except for the files of the court. The records and files maintained in any administrative or court proceeding in a municipal, associate, or circuit court for any offense ordered expunged under this section shall be confidential and only available to the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. The central repository shall request the Federal Bureau of Investigation to expunge the records from its files.
7. The order shall not limit any of the petitioner's rights that were restricted as a collateral consequence of such person's criminal record, and such rights shall be restored upon issuance of the order of expungement. Except as otherwise provided under this section, the effect of such order shall be to restore such person to the status he or she occupied prior to such arrests, pleas, trials, or convictions as if such events had never taken place. No person as to whom such order has been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of law to be guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of his or her failure to recite or acknowledge such arrests, pleas, trials, convictions, or expungement in response to an inquiry made of him or her and no such inquiry shall be made for information relating to an expungement, except the petitioner shall disclose the expunged offense to any court when asked or upon being charged with any subsequent offense. The expunged offense may be considered a prior offense in determining a sentence to be imposed for any subsequent offense that the person is found guilty of committing.
8. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 7 of this section to the contrary, a person granted an expungement shall disclose any expunged offense when the disclosure of such information is necessary to complete any application for:
(1) A license, certificate, or permit issued by this state to practice such individual's profession;
(2) Any license issued under chapter 313; or
(3) Paid or unpaid employment with an entity licensed under chapter 313, any state-operated lottery, or any emergency services provider, including any law enforcement agency.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an expunged offense shall not be grounds for automatic disqualification of an applicant, but may be a factor for denying employment, or a professional license, certificate, or permit.
9. If the court determines that such person has not met the criteria for any of the offenses listed in the petition for expungement, the court shall enter an order dismissing the petition. Any person whose petition for expungement has been dismissed by the court for failure to meet the criteria set forth in subsection 5 of this section may not refile another petition until a year has passed since the date of filing for the previous petition.
10. A person may be granted more than one expungement under this section provided that no person shall be granted more than one order of expungement from the same court. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the court from maintaining records to ensure that an individual has only one petition for expungement granted by such court under this section.
Sec. 610.150 – “911” telephone reports inaccessible, exceptions.
610.150. Except as provided by this section, any information acquired by a law enforcement agency or a first responder agency by way of a complaint or report of a crime made by telephone contact using the emergency number, \"911\", shall be inaccessible to the general public. However, information consisting of the date, time, specific location and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of the crime or incident shall be considered to be an incident report and subject to section 610.100. Any closed records pursuant to this section shall be available upon request by law enforcement agencies or the division of workers' compensation or pursuant to a valid court order authorizing disclosure upon motion and good cause shown.
Sec. 610.200 - Law enforcement agency log or record of suspected crimes, accidents or complaints, available for inspection and copying.
610.200. All law enforcement agencies that maintain a daily log or record that lists suspected crimes, accidents, or complaints shall make available the following information for inspection and copying by the public:
(1) The time, substance, and location of all complaints or requests for assistance received by the agency;
(2) The time and nature of the agency's response to all complaints or requests for assistance; and
(3) If the incident involves an alleged crime or infraction:
(a) The time, date, and location of occurrence;
(b) The name and age of any victim, unless the victim is a victim of a crime under chapter 566;
(c) The factual circumstances surrounding the incident; and
(d) A general description of any injuries, property or weapons involved.