Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 600.048 (2026)

Right to counsel, notice posted, where, contents

✓ current as of May 2026

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600.048. Right to counsel, notice posted, where, contents — request for counsel, procedure — privacy rights. — 1. It shall be the duty of every person in charge of a jail, police station, constable's or sheriff's office, or detention facility provided by any county to post in a conspicuous place a notice stating in effect:

(1) That every person held in custody under a charge or suspicion of a crime is entitled to have a lawyer;

(2) That if any such person is held in custody in connection with any of the cases or proceedings set out in section 600.042, and wants a lawyer to represent him or her and is unable, without substantial financial hardship to self or his or her dependents, to obtain a lawyer, the state will provide a lawyer to represent him or her upon request; and

(3) That if the state provides such a lawyer, the client may be liable to the state for the cost of the services and expenses of the lawyer who handles the case if he or she is or will be able to pay all or any part of such costs.

The notice shall also contain a listing of the cases and proceedings for which defender services are available under section 600.042, and the telephone number of a person or answering service to call to request that a person designated by the state public defender system visit and interview him or her, and provide further information.

2. A person who is charged or detained in any case listed in section 600.042 or who appears in court without counsel at any stage of a case, or any other person on behalf of such person, may request that legal representation be furnished to him or her by the state. The court or any person representing the state public defender system to whom such request is made shall first provide a copy of the notice referred to in subsection 1 of this section or call the posted notice to the charged or detained person's attention and permit him or her to read it or have it explained to him or her. If such person renews a request for state public defender system services, he or she shall be required to complete and sign an affidavit in accordance with section 600.086 and shall be orally informed of the punishment for intentionally falsifying such affidavit.

3. It shall be the duty of every person in charge of a jail, police station, constable's or sheriff's office, or detention facility to make a room or place available therein where any person held in custody under a charge or suspicion of a crime will be able to talk privately with his or her lawyer, lawyer's representative, or any authorized person responding to a request for an interview concerning his or her right to counsel.

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(L. 1982 H.B. 1169, A.L. 2013 H.B. 215)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1986–2017 · leading case: Rothgery v. Gillespie Cnty., 554 U.S. 191 (2008).

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Rothgery v. Gillespie Cnty., 554 U.S. 191 (2008). · cites it 2× “GILLESPIE COUNTY Opinion of the Court see also Brief for American Bar Association as Amicus Curiae 5–8 (describing the ABA’s position for the past 40 years that counsel should be appointed “certainly no later than the accused’s initial appearance before a judicial officer”).”

State v. Bittick, 806 S.W.2d 652 (Mo. 1991). · cites it 3× “The Court of Appeals, Western District, by a divided court, reversed the conviction outright, finding appellant’s Section 600.”

Church v. Missouri, 268 F. Supp. 3d 992 (W.D. Mo. 2017). · cites it 4× “See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 600.048 . Again, § 600.048 imposes no duties on Governor Greitens.”

State Ex Rel. Pub. Def. Comm'n v. Bonacker, 706 S.W.2d 449 (Mo. 1986). · cites it 2× “…otherwise, which would preclude the appointment of a public defender in a Rule 27.26 action. See also § 600.042 and § 600.048, RSMo Cum.Supp.1984.”

State v. Gill, 806 S.W.2d 48 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991). “Appellant also argues that the police failed to comply with § 600.048 requiring the posting of the accused’s rights to counsel.”

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