The Missouri State Highway Patrol is in charge of all criminal records for the state. They have a dedicated website called the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site (MACHS) that holds all the database information on criminal records. From there, you can search and find anyone who has a criminal history in the state. The site supports both name and fingerprint searches. As of 2018, they use IDEMIA for their fingerprinting vendor. A name search costs $14, a state fingerprint search costs $13.25 and an FBI national search costs $11.25. Fingerprinting costs $20. General public requests by mail take between 4-6 weeks.
Missouri uses the CourtWeb system for supplying the public, litigators, and defendants access to federal court records. You can do a search using the court, date and case number. You can also use the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system to search federal criminal court cases. If you need to look up any local criminal court cases, you can visit the individual courthouse or go to the Missouri Judicial Branch website where you can easily search for court documents using their Case.net system. You can search by name, date, and case number.
Missouri has two distinct expungement laws. One is for minors who are arrested on alcohol charges. The other is for regular offenses both felonies and misdemeanors. Missouri has a list of requirements that you must satisfy to be eligible. Also for misdemeanors, you can petition the court after three years to have your record expunged. For felonies, you must wait seven years.
Anyone with access to the Internet can lookup your criminal background. The state of Missouri makes it very easy with their Missouri Automated Criminal History Site (MACHS) website for someone to find you and pull your entire history. You can also use a third-party criminal history service.
Government agencies use criminal history reports before they issue security clearances, permits, licensing and other certifications. Sometimes companies use a criminal history background check when they evaluate security clearances. Property owners sometimes use them before renting to a stranger.
There are a lot of types of criminal records available when you search for someone. Most often you will see general information like name, address, phone, email, physical description, height, weight, age, gender, and race. You can also look at their arrests, charges, warrants, sentencing, any fines or bail they paid and if they spent any time in jail.
From the time you are arrested, a file is opened that becomes your criminal history. From the initial arrest report (RAP sheets) to mug shots and fingerprints, everything is documented. Law enforcement agents spend a lot of time filling out paperwork, and this is what goes into your file and becomes your entire criminal history report.
