Missouri (MO) — Expungement & Record Clearing

Remedy

Automatic closed records (RSMo §§ 610.100, 610.105); petition to expunge arrest records (§ 610.140.7; §§ 610.122–610.123); mistaken-identity expungement (§ 610.145)

Waiting period

None for automatic closure. An arrest report closes if no charge is filed within 30 days, and court records close when a dismissed or acquitted case is finally terminated. A petition under § 610.140.7 can be filed no earlier than 18 months after the arrest.

Some arrest records close automatically. If you are arrested but not charged within 30 days, the arrest report becomes a closed record. If a charge is nolle prossed or dismissed, ends in a not-guilty verdict, or ends in a suspended imposition of sentence, the case records become closed records once the case is finally terminated. The court's judgment and the prosecutor's final action can still be accessed. To go further and expunge an arrest record, you can petition under § 610.140.7. You can file no earlier than 18 months after the arrest, and only if you have not been charged or found guilty of a misdemeanor or felony during that time. Section 610.122 allows a petition when the arrest was based on false information, or when certain traffic-related charges were dismissed or ended in acquittal. Section 610.145 covers charges filed because of identity theft or mistaken identity.

• ✗§ 610.140.7 petitions apply only to arrests for an "eligible crime," meaning a crime not excluded by § 610.140.3
• ✗§ 610.122(2) relief for dismissed traffic charges excludes intoxication-related traffic offenses and commercial driver's license holders
• ✗Closed records stay available to criminal justice agencies and other entities listed in § 610.120
• ✗The court's judgment or the prosecutor's final action in a dismissed or acquitted case can still be accessed

Sources: RSMo § 610.100 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.100.2(3)); RSMo § 610.105 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.105.1); RSMo § 610.140 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.140.7); RSMo § 610.122 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.122.1(1); § 610.122.1(2); § 610.122.1(2)(a)); RSMo § 610.123 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.123.1); RSMo § 610.145 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.145.1(1); § 610.145.1(2)); RSMo § 610.120 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.120.1); RSMo § 610.110 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.110)

Remedy

Expungement by petition (RSMo § 610.140); automatic expungement of drug possession and paraphernalia misdemeanors (§ 610.141, SB 1421 of 2026)

Waiting period

1 year after completing the sentence (authorized disposition) for each misdemeanor, ordinance violation or infraction

Most misdemeanors, municipal ordinance violations and infractions can be expunged by petition under § 610.140. You can file 1 year after finishing your sentence (the "authorized disposition"). You must also have no new misdemeanor or felony convictions in that time (traffic offenses don't count), have paid all fines and restitution, and have no pending charges. Your petition creates a rebuttable presumption that expungement is warranted, and the prosecutor then has the burden to rebut it. Over your lifetime you can have at most 3 misdemeanors or ordinance violations that carry possible jail time expunged, but any number of infractions. Misdemeanor drug possession and paraphernalia convictions are also set to be expunged automatically under § 610.141 (see drug-possession).

• ✗Misdemeanor domestic assault
• ✗Offenses in chapter 566 (sexual offenses) or in the specific sections listed in § 610.140.3(6)
• ✗Offenses requiring sex offender registration
• ✗Intoxication-related traffic or boating offenses (DWI/BWI); a first DWI may qualify only under § 610.130
• ✗Any motor-vehicle law violation by someone who holds, or is required to hold, a commercial driver's license
• ✗Most offenses under § 571.030 (unlawful use of weapons), with narrow exceptions
• ✗Ordinance violations substantially equivalent to an ineligible offense
• ✗Lifetime cap of 3 misdemeanors or ordinance violations that carry possible jail time

Sources: RSMo § 610.140 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.140.2(1); § 610.140.6(1); § 610.140.6(2); § 610.140.6(3)-(4); +10 more); RSMo § 610.141 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.141.1(3)(d); § 610.141.1(6)(c)-(d))

Remedy

Expungement by petition (RSMo § 610.140); automatic expungement of felony drug possession (§ 610.141, SB 1421 of 2026)

Waiting period

3 years after completing the sentence (authorized disposition)

Many felonies can be expunged by petition under § 610.140, but there is a long list of exclusions. You can file 3 years after finishing your sentence. During that time you must have no new misdemeanor or felony convictions (not counting traffic), have paid all fines and restitution, and have no pending charges. The court must also find that you are not a threat to public safety and that expungement serves the public welfare. If your petition says you meet those two criteria, that creates a rebuttable presumption that expungement is warranted. Over your lifetime you can have at most 2 felonies expunged. Related crimes from the same course of conduct count only once, at the highest level. Felony drug possession convictions that are not class A are also set to be expunged automatically under § 610.141.

• ✗Any class A felony
• ✗Any "dangerous felony" as defined in § 556.061
• ✗Any felony where death is an element of the offense
• ✗Felony assault, felony domestic assault, and felony kidnapping
• ✗Offenses requiring sex offender registration and offenses in chapter 566
• ✗Offenses in the specific sections listed in § 610.140.3(6)
• ✗Felony intoxication-related traffic or boating offenses
• ✗Most § 571.030 weapons offenses
• ✗Lifetime cap of 2 felonies

Sources: RSMo § 610.140 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.140.2(1); § 610.140.6(1); § 610.140.6(2); § 610.140.6(3)-(4); +9 more); RSMo § 610.141 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.141.1(6)(c)-(d); § 610.141.1(3)(f)-(g))

Remedy

One-time expungement of a first intoxication-related traffic or boating offense (RSMo § 610.130); excluded from general expungement under § 610.140

Waiting period

At least 10 years (from the plea or conviction)

DWI and other intoxication-related traffic or boating offenses cannot be expunged under the general statute, § 610.140. Section 610.130 allows one expungement in a lifetime, for a first intoxication-related traffic or boating offense that was a misdemeanor or a county or city ordinance violation. You can apply after at least 10 years. You must have no later intoxication-related convictions, no later alcohol-related enforcement contacts, and nothing of that kind pending. It is not available to anyone who holds, or is required to hold, a commercial driver's license, or for a conviction for driving a commercial vehicle under the influence.

• ✗Felony DWI and second or later intoxication-related offenses
• ✗Anyone who holds, or is required to hold, a commercial driver's license
• ✗A conviction for driving a commercial motor vehicle under the influence
• ✗Anyone with later alcohol-related enforcement contacts (as defined in § 302.525) or pending intoxication-related matters
• ✗Only one § 610.130 expungement per lifetime

Sources: RSMo § 610.140 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.140.3(7)-(8)); RSMo § 610.130 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.130.1; § 610.130.2; § 610.130.3; § 610.130.4)

Remedy

Automatic expungement (RSMo § 610.141, SB 1421 of 2026); expungement by petition (§ 610.140); marijuana expungement (Mo. Const. art. XIV, § 2.10(7)–(8))

Waiting period

Automatic (§ 610.141): 1 year after final disposition for a misdemeanor, 3 years for a felony. Petition (§ 610.140): 1 year (misdemeanor) or 3 years (felony) after completing the sentence.

Under § 610.141 (SB 1421 of 2026), convictions for possession of a controlled substance (§ 579.015, or former § 195.202) and for drug paraphernalia (§ 579.074, or former § 195.233) are to be expunged automatically, with no petition. This happens 1 year after final disposition for a misdemeanor and 3 years for a felony. Final disposition means you have completed all court-imposed terms and been unconditionally released. You must also have no new convictions in that time and no outstanding arrest or pending charges. The case must contain only qualifying convictions, and class A felonies are excluded. The law took effect August 28, 2026, but the automatic process must begin only when technically feasible, and no later than January 1, 2027. You can also petition under § 610.140. Separately, Amendment 3 (2022) directed courts to expunge most marijuana offenses, excluding distribution to a minor, offenses involving violence, and driving under the influence of marijuana.

• ✗Class A felony drug possession (not eligible for automatic expungement)
• ✗Cases that also contain a conviction for a non-qualifying offense (not eligible for automatic expungement)
• ✗No new misdemeanor or felony conviction within the waiting period, and no outstanding arrest or pending charges when the record is screened
• ✗Counts toward the combined lifetime cap of 3 misdemeanors and 2 felonies under §§ 610.140 and 610.141
• ✗Automatic relief applies only to records that exist electronically
• ✗Marijuana relief under Amendment 3 excludes distribution or delivery to a minor, offenses involving violence, and driving under the influence of marijuana

Sources: RSMo § 610.141 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.141.1(6); § 610.141.1(6)(c)-(d); § 610.141.2; § 610.141.1(3)(d); +8 more); RSMo § 610.140 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 610.140.6(1)); Mo. Const. art. XIV, § 2.10(8)(a) (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (art. XIV, § 2.10(8)(a); Section header)

Remedy

Court order to destroy records and seal the official court file (RSMo § 211.321.5); juvenile records are confidential by statute

Waiting period

Any time after the 18th birthday, or after the case closes if the court's jurisdiction continued past age 18

Juvenile court records and police records about children are confidential by default and can be opened only by court order or as the statute allows. There is an exception: when a child is adjudicated for an offense that would be a felony for an adult, the dispositional hearing records are open to the public the same way criminal records are. Records are also not confidential when a petition is sustained charging an offense that would be a class A felony or murder. After the young person turns 18, the juvenile court may order social histories and records destroyed and the official court file and police records sealed. The court can act on its own motion or on application by the young person or the juvenile officer, and only if it finds this is in the young person's best interest.

• ✗Sealing is discretionary: the court must find it is in the young person's best interest
• ✗Dispositional records of adjudications for felony-level offenses are open to the public
• ✗Confidentiality does not apply when a sustained petition charges a class A felony or murder
• ✗The confidentiality rule for police records does not apply to children transferred to adult court (§ 211.071)

Source: RSMo § 211.321 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes) (§ 211.321.1; § 211.321.3; § 211.321.2(2); § 211.321.5)