Process for expunging criminal adult arrest records in Missouri

If you are eligible to have your arrest records expunged in Missouri, your first step is to file a Petition for Expungement of Arrest Records in the civil division of the circuit court in the Missouri county where the arrest happened. The petition requires the following information:

1. Full name;
2. Sex;
3. Race;
4. Date of birth;
5. Driver’s license number;
6. Social Security number;
7. Address at the time of the arrest;
8. The offense charged against the petitioner;
9. The date the petitioner was arrested;
10. The name of the county and municipality where the petitioner was arrested;
11. The name of the agency that arrested the petitioner;
12. The case number and court for the offense;
13. 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.

The petition must 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 will set a hearing on the matter no sooner than thirty days from the filing of the petition and will give notice of the hearing to each official, agency, or other entity named in the petition.

If the court finds that the petitioner is entitled to expungement of any record that is the subject of the petition, it must enter an order directing expungement.

For more information on Missouri expungements, see the following articles:

Overview of Missouri Criminal Expungements

Do I Need an Attorney in Missouri to File for an Expungement or Petitions to Seal my Criminal Records?

Sealing Juvenile Criminal Records in Missouri