Franklin County Court Record Requests
The Franklin County Circuit Clerk keeps the case files. Both divisions are covered, circuit and associate. The files also hold docket or backer sheets, judgments, orders, and related court records. Before calling, pull the case up on Missouri Case.net. Write down the case number, court, division, document title, filing date, and the last docket entry you can see. Those details turn a vague ask into a precise one. One caution: the separately elected County Clerk handles county business. That office is not the right one for a circuit court record.
The clerk's official page carries the records-request form, which supports copies by mail or pickup. Phone and in-person contact work too. Try those when the online record looks incomplete or the courthouse terminal is the only access channel. The clerk publishes no fax, email, or upload route for the form. Check with the office before sending a request that way.
- Locate the case in Case.net or use the information on a court notice to identify its case number and division.
- Name the needed record, such as a docket sheet, judgment, order, or a filing dated on a known day.
- Choose the Circuit Clerk request form, the public counter, or phone contact for the request.
- Choose mail copies or pickup and state whether certification is requested.
- Wait for the clerk's estimated fee, then provide payment before processing.
A Franklin County docket search is often the quickest way to gather the identifiers a copy request needs. Just remember what it is not. It cannot promise that every document image is public or available remotely.
Franklin County Circuit Clerk Records Desk
Case.net sometimes gives an index but no usable document. Then the Circuit Clerk's public counter is the local answer. Bring the case number, the document description, and the filing date. Franklin County's form has space for one required document and date. Extra document and date pairs fit too. If all you have is a name, narrow the case in Case.net first. You can also call for routing help. Guessing at a file wastes everyone's time.
Franklin County Circuit Clerk
Franklin County Judicial Center
401 E Main Street, Room 100A
Union, MO 63084
(636) 583-7391
The clerk's Criminal Department answers at (636) 583-7365. The Civil Department line is (636) 583-7366. Either line can route a case-specific question to the right desk. Neither changes who holds the file. The Franklin County Circuit Clerk keeps the court record, not the County Clerk's county-government office.
Kinds of Court Records
A Franklin County court record is more than a final result. It can hold the chronological docket sheet. Missouri case files may also include filed pleadings, orders, judgments, court settings, and links to public documents. What's inside depends on the case type and on what the court received over time. A matter that began in municipal court may leave a trail. Look for a transfer or appeal reference in a later associate or circuit record.
- Court docket sheet or backer sheet: the dated event history for the case.
- Case header: the identifying case number, court, division, parties, filing date, and public status fields.
- Filed pleadings: items such as a petition, complaint, answer, motion, information, or response where public access is allowed.
- Orders and judgments: court decisions, rulings, sentencing entries, dismissals, or other recorded actions.
- Settings and financial entries: scheduled events, fines, costs, payments, or satisfaction information when shown in the court record.
Police reports, jail records, prosecutor work product, and county commission records all sit with different custodians. So name the court-file item in your request. A broad label that mixes agency records together will only slow the clerk down.
Franklin County Request Form Details
The form asks for the request date, your name, phone, and full mailing address. It also wants your certification choice, preferred delivery, case description, case number, document requested, and filing date. The first document and its date are required. Requestors can add a second and third document with dates. That structure hands the clerk a defined item to pull. It avoids an open-ended dig through a case file.
| Form detail | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Case number | Connects the request to the Franklin County court file. |
| Document and filing date | Identifies the exact pleading, order, judgment, or docket entry sought. |
| Certification choice | Tells the clerk whether a certified copy is being requested. |
| Mail or pickup | Sets the delivery preference shown on the official form. |
| Phone and mailing address | Gives the clerk a way to provide an estimate and deliver copies. |
The form promises no turnaround time. Don't infer one. Franklin County says the clerk will notify the requestor of the estimated total. Payment is required before processing begins. A quick phone call can clarify the estimate or any confidential-file requirement.
Note: In a Franklin County case, list a date and document title. That beats asking for every paper in the file.
Court Records: What They Contain
A Franklin County case record opens with identifying information. It then gathers filings and court events as the case moves along. Missouri's public File Viewer separates the Case Header from Docket Entries. The header lets you confirm you have the right case. The docket entries list dated actions. A document link appears only under certain conditions. The entry must be public, electronic, and accessible to the user.
| Case number | The court's identifying number, preserved as it appears in the Franklin County case header. |
|---|---|
| Parties and attorneys | Public case participants and counsel where the record makes them available. |
| Docket sheet | A chronological record of filings, settings, orders, and court actions. |
| Pleadings and documents | Public petitions, motions, responses, orders, or judgments when an image or copy is available. |
| Status and disposition | Public case status and any recorded judgment, dismissal, sentence, satisfaction, transfer, or appeal reference. |
A docket item with no hyperlink may mean nothing is attached, or it may mean access is unavailable. Neither reading lets a requester bypass a restriction. For an older or unavailable item, write down the entry's title and date, then ask the Franklin County Circuit Clerk about the correct copy route.
Franklin County Older Electronic Files
Seeing a Franklin County case from home is not the same as seeing it at the courthouse. The 20th Circuit remote-access schedule puts documents filed after July 1, 2023 into a statewide rollout. That rollout arrives once the circuit is activated. Older electronic material is different. It may sit on a public-access terminal inside the courthouse. So when Case.net shows a case header or docket entry but no image you can open, the terminal becomes a real Franklin County option.
For the ground rules, the official Missouri remote public access page and the File Viewer guidance set out what the public can reach electronically. They also show where the limits fall. Electronic does not mean everything is public. Confidential categories stay closed. So do sealed records, expunged matters, and redacted information, all under the court rules.
When you go, bring the case number. Name the exact item at the clerk counter. That works far better than concluding a record is missing just because a remote search shows no link.
Copy Fees and Certification
Copies in Franklin County carry simple math. The official records form prices a plain copy at $1 per page. Certification adds $1.50. The clerk quotes an estimated total before processing anything, and prepayment is required. It is not spelled out whether that certification amount is billed per document, per request, or some other unit, so for a multi-document request, ask the clerk to confirm the estimate first.
| Item | Listed amount | Franklin County handling |
|---|---|---|
| Plain copy | $1 per page | Clerk estimates the total before processing. |
| Certification request | Adds $1.50 | Ask how the certification applies to the requested record. |
| Payment before processing | Estimate required | Payment is required after the estimate is given. |
| Card transaction | Convenience fee may apply | The amount was not verified in the published research. |
Payment options are broad. The form accepts cash, check, money order, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. A certified copy carries the clerk's certification while a plain copy does not, so ask the receiving agency which one it needs before you pay for certification.
Franklin County Docket Entries and Attachments
A docket entry and an attached filing are two related but distinct Franklin County court records. The docket gives you the event date and its text. A linked public document can give you the filing itself. In Missouri File Viewer, a hyperlink signals that an attachment is accessible. An ECASE label marks a record as electronic. That is why a public docket index stays valuable even when it cannot hand you a document image.
When a document is not linked, write down the case number. Add the entry title and the date. Then request that identified record through the clerk form or at the counter. This keeps you from treating Case.net as a full document archive. It also gives the clerk a practical target for retrieval.
Access Rules for Court Records
Missouri sets the rules for court-record access in Court Operating Rule 4, alongside the Sunshine Law context of Chapter 610. The rule treats filed documents and docket or backer-sheet information as official court records. Separate provisions govern automated docket fields. Still others cover confidential, sealed, and expunged material. Public access does not promise that every image is available remotely or that any file can be inspected without a court order.
Key Missouri rules.
Court Operating Rule 4.02 addresses public access equipment for court records.
Court Operating Rule 4.03 identifies filed documents and docket or backer-sheet information as official court records.
RSMo 610.022 and RSMo 610.026 provide Missouri request and copy-fee context.
RSMo 610.140 addresses the expungement process and resulting access limits.
Franklin County warns visitors that photo identification may be required for confidential cases. Inspection of some records may also need a judge's approval. Rather than assuming a missing image is a technical error, ask the Circuit Clerk how to reach the record you have named.
Federal Records Outside Franklin County
Federal cases do not live in the Franklin County Circuit Clerk's records. Missouri Case.net does not carry them either. Civil, criminal, and bankruptcy files in federal court follow the federal system entirely. So do not request them from the Franklin County clerk. The boundary matters when a case has a local flavor. The court named in the record may still be the Eastern District of Missouri or a federal bankruptcy court.
Federal courts also keep their own schedules. The federal judiciary's future fee announcement describes a temporary fee increase for PACER access. It shows that federal fee rules and effective dates are maintained apart from Missouri state-court records.
A federal notice down the road does not change local copy fees or Missouri Case.net access.
For the charges that apply to federal public access, the official PACER fee policy lays them out.
PACER is a federal channel. It will not lead you to a Franklin County circuit case file. CourtListener is a separate public archive, and it does not hold the official copy of a Franklin County court record either.
For an official copy, always go to the court or clerk that maintains the particular case. The Eastern District of Missouri Bankruptcy Court runs its own federal clerk and its own case-access path for those filings.
A Franklin County address or party does not pull a federal bankruptcy record into the county circuit file. Those records stay federal. For routing questions, the Eastern District of Missouri court business page lists how federal court business is handled.
Follow a federal court's instructions only when the case is actually in federal court. The Eastern District's CM/ECF system is another federal tool, handling federal filings and docket management rather than state cases.
Missouri eFiling and Case.net remain the relevant systems for Franklin County state-court matters.