Find Franklin County Court Dockets

Franklin County Court Docket Basics

A docket is the running court record of events in a case. In Franklin County, a public docket entry may show when a petition was filed, when a motion was submitted, when a hearing was set, when a continuance occurred, when judgment was entered, or when a payment or compliance entry posted. The docket helps a reader follow the life of the case without reading every filed document.

The full case record is broader. It can include pleadings, orders, judgments, exhibits where public, and certified copies from the Circuit Clerk. A docket entry may say that a document exists, but it does not always provide the document image. For a full document or certified copy, the Franklin County Circuit Clerk is the local custodian.

Docket

Chronological list of filings, events, hearings, and court actions.

Disposition

The final or current result of a case, charge, claim, or motion.

Continuance

A reset or postponement of a hearing date.

Order

A judge's written or entered direction in the case.

FTA

Failure to appear, which can lead to a warrant or other court action.

Search Franklin County Court Dockets

Franklin County docket lookup starts with Missouri Case.net. The Franklin County Circuit Clerk page directs users to Case.net and Missouri Remote Public Access. Case.net is the practical online source for docket entries, case headers, hearing dates, parties, financial sections, public documents where available, and eligible payment links. The Detention page also points to Case.net for case status but warns that court actions are not entered immediately after court.

1. Open Case.net and choose a case-number search if the number is known.
2. Use litigant name search when the number is unknown, then narrow by Franklin County or the 20th Judicial Circuit when possible.
3. Open the matching case and review the docket entries in date order.
4. Check the hearing section for the next court date, time, courtroom, division, and event type when posted.
5. Use Track This Case when available to receive update notices for hearing or docket changes.
6. Contact the Circuit Clerk if the docket shows a document that is not downloadable or if a certified copy is required.

Franklin County Docket Entry Fields

A Franklin County docket entry is read best as a status line. It tells what happened and when, but it may not tell the whole reason behind the event. Criminal dockets can add pleas, sentence entries, probation reviews, bond notes, restitution, and warrant indicators. Civil dockets can add filings, motions, judgments, garnishments, and compliance entries. Traffic dockets can add citations, fines, payment status, and mandatory appearance notes.

The image below is from RSMo 610.140, the Missouri expungement statute tied to records that may stop appearing as ordinary public docket material after a court order.

Expungement is one reason an older docket path may not match ordinary public search expectations.

Franklin County Court Dockets by Court

Franklin County is part of Missouri's 20th Judicial Circuit. The Circuit Court is the main trial court and includes civil, criminal, domestic relations, probate, juvenile, associate circuit, small claims, municipal ordinance, and traffic matters. Associate Circuit Court handles many lower-dollar civil cases, small claims, rent-and-possession, preliminary criminal matters, misdemeanors, and traffic depending on the filing. Probate is a division of the Circuit Court, not a separate county office.

Municipal dockets are narrower. Franklin County Municipal Court handles traffic citations, planning and zoning code violations, health code violations, and building code violations. It was established in 2012 and meets in the Historic Courthouse. City municipal divisions may also handle local ordinance and traffic cases. Searchers should use the issuing agency or citation location to decide whether to start with Case.net, Franklin County Municipal Court, or a city municipal division.

Franklin County Municipal Dockets

Franklin County Municipal Court has several docket details that affect traffic and ordinance users. Court begins at 4:30 p.m. and regular sessions are first and third Thursdays, with other Thursdays as needed. The court sits in the Edward A. Stierberger Memorial Courtroom on the third floor of the Historic Courthouse at 15 South Church Street, Room 306, Union. The court telephone is 636-584-6286, and the published email is municipalcourt@franklinmo.gov.

Ticket timing matters. The Municipal Court page directs tickets received before June 2022 to an nCourt payment link and tickets received after June 2022 to the Missouri courts or Case.net route. Not-guilty pleas are not accepted and continued by phone as a routine practice. A person who wants to plead not guilty must appear, unless an attorney files the not-guilty plea and entry of appearance.

The image below comes from RSMo 193.185, a statute in the Franklin County source set that shows how docket-related research can include non-case record duties outside ordinary hearing calendars.

That distinction is useful because not every county record with a filing or return is a court docket.

Franklin County Dockets vs Case Records

A docket is often enough to confirm a hearing, judgment date, plea entry, continuance, or case status. A full case record is needed when the exact pleading, order, judgment, or certified copy matters. For example, a docket may say a judgment was entered, but a lender, agency, employer, attorney, or court may need the actual certified judgment rather than the event line.

Franklin County Docket Update Limits

Franklin County docket users should allow for delay. The Detention page says Case.net is an additional source for court-case information but warns that court actions are not entered immediately after court. That warning is especially important after a hearing, plea, bond change, release order, or payment. For time-sensitive custody questions, the Detention page says to contact the court of jurisdiction, not rely only on the online docket.

Public access limits can also change what appears. Juvenile docket records are restricted under RSMo 211.321. Sealed or expunged docket material will not appear the same way as ordinary public cases. Financial identifiers, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and other protected information are redacted from public material.

The image below uses the official RSMo 211.321 source referenced in the Franklin County docket research.

Juvenile confidentiality is a key reason a docket search may return less than a general adult civil or criminal case search.

Franklin County Docket Copy Requests

For docket documents or certified docket-related records, use the Circuit Clerk request process. The request form asks for requester name, phone, mailing address, certification choice, delivery choice, case number, document requested, and date of filing. Plain copies are listed at $1.00 per page, and certification adds $1.50. The clerk notifies the requester of estimated fees, and payment must be received before processing.