Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 610.120 (2026)

Records to be confidential

✓ current as of May 2026

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610.120. Records to be confidential — accessible to whom, purposes. — 1. Except as otherwise provided under section 610.124, 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 chapter 43. 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, and private investigators; those agencies authorized by chapter 43 and applicable state law 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 chapter 43; to qualified entities for the purpose of screening providers defined in chapter 43; the department of revenue for driver license administration; the department of public safety 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.

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(L. 1981 H.B. 554, A.L. 1983 S.B. 72, A.L. 1989 S.B. 215 & 58, A.L. 1992 S.B. 573 & 634, A.L. 1994 H.B. 1677 merged with S.B. 554 merged with S.B. 763, A.L. 2003 S.B. 184, A.L. 2014 H.B. 1299 Revision merged with H.B. 1665 & 1335, A.L. 2018 H.B. 1350, A.L. 2021 S.B. 53 & 60)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 38 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1981–2024 · leading case: State v. Bachman, 675 S.W.2d 41 (Mo. Ct. App. 1984).

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State v. Bachman, 675 S.W.2d 41 (Mo. Ct. App. 1984). · cites it 11× “” As an added note, § 610.120, RSMo Supp. 1981 reads as follows: “610.”

State v. Whitfield, 837 S.W.2d 503 (Mo. 1992). · cites it 6× “120 RSMo 1986 & Supp.1991. The state counters that the defendant has no standing to raise this issue on behalf of the venireper-sons.”

Rachal Laut, f/k/a Rachal Govro, & John M. Soellner v. City of Arnold, 491 S.W.3d 191 (Mo. 2016). · cites it 4× “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.…”

Collins v. Dir. of Revenue, 691 S.W.2d 246 (Mo. 1985). · cites it 4× “These records were admissible, however, by virtue of § 610.120, RSMo Cum.Supp. 1984, which states that closed records, while inaccessible to the general public, shall be made available "to courts, administrative agencies, law enforcement agencies, and federal agencies for…”

State v. Lynch, 679 S.W.2d 858 (Mo. 1984). · cites it 4× “1983, provide a procedure for closing a defendant's record and making such records inaccessible to the general public, the beneficial impact of the closed records statutes is greatly reduced by § 610.120, RSMo Cum.Supp.1983. This latter provision makes available "closed records"…”

McHaffie Ex Rel. McHaffie v. Bunch, 891 S.W.2d 822 (Mo. 1995). · cites it 3× “100, provides in part: If any person is arrested and not charged with an offense against the law within thirty days of his arrest, official records of the arrest and of any detention or confinement incident thereto shall thereafter be closed records except that the disposition…”

State v. Anding, 689 S.W.2d 745 (Mo. Ct. App. 1985). · cites it 9× “686: “This [in-tendment of the legislature] is bolstered by a 1981 amendment to the arrest records statute, Section 610.120, RSMo Supp.1981, clarifying that closed records remain available for prosecution purposes.”

Kuenzle v. Missouri State High. Patrol, 865 S.W.2d 667 (Mo. 1993). · cites it 11× “Section 610.120, RSMo Supp.1992 (emphasis added).”

Lindsay v. Hopkins, 788 S.W.2d 776 (Mo. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 10× “Section 610.120, RSMo 1986 (repealed effective August 28, 1989) provided: 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.”

State v. McMahan, 821 S.W.2d 110 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 5× “Section 610.120, RSMo (1986) provides the following exceptions: *113 610.”

R.W. v. Sanders, 168 S.W.3d 65 (Mo. 2005). · cites it 2× “ut the case is subsequently nolle pressed, 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…”

State ex rel. Thurman v. Franklin, 810 S.W.2d 694 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 18× “Section 610.120, RSMo 1986 & Cum.Supp.1990, contains no exceptions applicable to Bradley’s arrest records.”

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