Missouri State Highway Patrol Missouri Cases

The Missouri State Highway Patrol appealed a circuit court judgment that granted Eric Cooley's request to be removed from the sex offender registry. Cooley had previously been discharged from probation in Wyoming without an adjudication of guilt, but was required to register in Missouri. The appellate court vacated the judgment and remanded the case, holding that the circuit court erroneously applied the law by granting Cooley's request without requiring him to comply with statutory notice and party-naming procedures under Section 589.401.

R.G. filed a petition to expunge two peace disturbance convictions from 2010 and 2012. The circuit court granted the petition, but the Missouri State Highway Patrol appealed the expungement of the 2010 conviction. The MSHP argued that R.G. did not meet the statutory requirements because he had a subsequent misdemeanor conviction less than three years after completing the disposition for the 2010 conviction. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, holding that the three-year period for no subsequent offenses under section 610.140.5 should be measured backward from the date the expungement petition was filed.

B.K. filed a petition to expunge his arrest record for passing a bad check. The Missouri State Highway Patrol objected, arguing B.K. had prior misdemeanor convictions and failed to provide the specific arrest date. The trial court granted the expungement, excluding the State's evidence of prior convictions. The appellate court affirmed, holding that the Fine Collection Center records were inadmissible under section 490.130 because the FCC is not a court, and that B.K. sufficiently identified the arrest date for expungement purposes.

M.F.G.B. appealed the circuit court's denial of his petition to expunge a 2015 felony conviction for distributing more than five grams of marijuana. He sought expungement under Article XIV, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution, which provides for expungement of certain marijuana offenses. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, holding that M.F.G.B.'s offense did not meet the Missouri Supreme Court's definition of a "marijuana offense" eligible for expungement because it involved distribution for consideration of more than five grams.