Jefferson County Circuit Court Overview
Jefferson County is the 23rd Judicial Circuit of Missouri. The official Circuit Court page states that the courts in Jefferson County operate as divisions of that circuit, although some municipal divisions have their own clerks. The main courthouse for Circuit Court records is the Jefferson County Courthouse at 300 Main Street, Hillsboro, Missouri 63050, with mail to P.O. Box 100. The courthouse and Circuit Clerk phone is 636-797-5443.
Missouri uses circuit courts as its primary trial courts. In Jefferson County, that single circuit structure covers circuit civil matters, associate civil matters, criminal cases, family-law cases, juvenile matters, probate, treatment court, small claims, and municipal matters. Appeals from trial-court judgments leave the Jefferson County Circuit Court for Missouri's appellate courts, with the Missouri Court of Appeals as the intermediate court and the Supreme Court of Missouri as the highest state court.
Jefferson County Circuit Court Divisions
The Jefferson County division list identifies circuit and associate circuit divisions by number, judge, and shared court contact. Several division pages also host division-specific criminal or family forms, which can matter for attorneys and self-represented litigants checking local practice requirements.
| Division | Judge | Type or note | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Division 1 | Circuit Judge Joseph A. Rathert | Circuit division | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 2 | Circuit Judge Edward L. Page | Circuit division; juvenile assignment noted in research | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 3 | Circuit Judge Travis D. Partney | Circuit division with criminal forms | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 4 | Circuit Judge Brenda Stacey | Circuit division with criminal forms | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 5 | Circuit Judge Victor J. Melenbrink | Presiding Judge; family/domestic and criminal forms | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 6 | Circuit Judge Shannon Dougherty | Circuit division | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 10 | Associate Circuit Judge Jeffrey Coleman | Associate circuit division; juvenile assignment noted | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 11 | Associate Circuit Judge Juli Hand | Associate circuit division; juvenile assignment noted | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 12 | Associate Circuit Judge Antonio "Tony" Manansala | Associate circuit division | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 13 | Associate Circuit Judge Katherine Hardy-Senkel | Associate circuit division | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 14 | Associate Circuit Judge Timothy Miller | Associate circuit division | 636-797-5443 |
| Division 15 | Associate Circuit Judge Charles Argana | Associate circuit division | 636-797-5443 |
Division 5 is especially visible in the research because it is tied to the presiding judge and family/domestic policy material. Criminal forms noted in the research include waiver of arraignment, scheduling orders, waiver of rights, ignition interlock orders, bond orders, felony setting memos, and probation revocation hearing waiver forms.
Jefferson County Circuit Court Comparison
Jefferson County does not use county courts or justice courts as separate trial-court systems. The local comparison is Circuit Court divisions, Associate Circuit Court divisions, and Municipal Court divisions. All sit within the 23rd Judicial Circuit framework, but they handle different case types and may have different clerks, payment paths, and docket routines.
| Point | Circuit Court divisions | Associate Circuit divisions | Municipal divisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main work | Felony, major civil, family, probate, juvenile, and other circuit matters. | Associate civil, lower-level criminal, preliminary or smaller civil matters, and small claims work. | City ordinance, traffic, code, animal control, and municipal criminal matters. |
| Record access | Case.net and Circuit Clerk when public. | Case.net and Circuit Clerk when public. | Case.net / Show Me Courts, municipal clerks, or Jefferson County Municipal Court depending on venue. |
| Local office | Jefferson County Courthouse, 300 Main Street. | Jefferson County Courthouse, 300 Main Street. | Justice Center or city municipal court, depending on the ticket or ordinance case. |
| Examples | Divorce, probate, felony criminal, major civil, juvenile assignments. | Associate circuit cases and small claims division matters. | Arnold, Byrnes Mill, Jefferson County Municipal Division, Pevely, and court-held city divisions. |
Jefferson County Case Process
Case flow depends on the type of matter, but the path usually begins with a filing, citation, petition, complaint, or prosecutor action. After filing, the record appears in the appropriate division if it is public and indexed. Hearings, motions, orders, judgments, warrants, payments, and dispositions are then added to the court record. Track This Case can be used after locating a case in Case.net.
Criminal flow: Arrest or summons › prosecutor review › complaint, information, or indictment › arraignment › pretrial hearings › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › appeal.
Civil and family flow: Petition filed › service › answer or default › motions or mediation › hearing or trial › judgment › post-judgment enforcement or appeal.
Probate flow: Petition or small-estate filing › appointment or order › notices › inventory or accounting when required › distribution or discharge.
Jefferson County Municipal Divisions
The Municipal Divisions page lists city and county municipal venues. The county research identifies Arnold, Byrnes Mill, Jefferson County Municipal Division, and Pevely with their own details, plus Crystal City, DeSoto, Festus, Herculaneum, and Hillsboro cases held at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Some municipal divisions have their own clerks. That is why a traffic ticket from Arnold, Byrnes Mill, or Pevely may need the city municipal court rather than only the county courthouse.
| Municipal division | Address or court location | Judge or clerk detail | Phone or hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold | 2101 Jeffco Boulevard, Arnold, MO 63010 | Judge Stephen Todd Hamby; clerks Patricia R. Lopez and Kristin Thiele | 636-296-0595; 636-282-6695; Mon-Fri 8:00-4:45; court Monday 7 p.m. except holidays |
| Byrnes Mill | 141 Osage Executive Circle, Byrnes Mill, MO 63051 | Judge Colby Smith-Hynes; clerk Melissa Sherrillo | 636-677-7727 ext. 223; contact court for hours |
| Crystal City | Held at Jefferson County Courthouse | Not separately listed on county page | Held at courthouse |
| DeSoto | Held at Jefferson County Courthouse | Not separately listed on county page | Held at courthouse |
| Festus | Held at Jefferson County Courthouse | Not separately listed on county page | Held at courthouse |
| Herculaneum | Held at Jefferson County Courthouse | Not separately listed on county page | Held at courthouse |
| Hillsboro | Held at Jefferson County Courthouse | Not separately listed on county page | Held at courthouse |
| Jefferson County Municipal Division | 400 First Street, Hillsboro, MO 63050 | Judge Lester C. Stuckmeyer; Administrator Molly Jaskiewicz | 636-797-6265; Mon-Fri 8-5 |
| Pevely | 401 Main Street, Pevely, MO 63070 | Judge Colby Smith-Hynes; clerk Dana M. Gassel; deputy clerk Linda Michelle Miles | 636-475-3355; court first and third Thursday 6:30 p.m. |
Jefferson County Specialty Divisions
The Probate Division of the Circuit Court handles estates, wills, small estates, guardianships, conservatorships, trust-related probate matters when filed, and restricted mental health-related probate proceedings. Public probate cases can be searched through Case.net where indexed, but filing and copy questions go through the Circuit Clerk or probate counter. Minor, mental health, and protected-person records can be restricted or redacted.
Juvenile matters are handled through the Juvenile Division of the 23rd Judicial Circuit. The research notes juvenile assignments for Judge Julie Hand, Judge Ed Page, and Judge Jeff Coleman. Juvenile court records are confidential under RSMo 211.321 except by court order or statutory exception. Jefferson County's Court Programs page also lists Adult Drug Treatment Court, DWI Court, Family Treatment Court, and Veterans Treatment Court, with Trish Hutson as Treatment Court Coordinator at 636-797-6332.
Note: Treatment-court pages confirm program names locally, but the inspected sources did not publish full eligibility rules or participant statistics.
Jefferson County Circuit Court Filing
The courthouse filing channels are split by role. Attorneys must file through Missouri Courts eFiling under Supreme Court Rule 103. Non-attorneys may physically file pleadings at the Clerk's Office on the second floor of the Circuit Court building in Hillsboro. The Circuit Clerk is Michael E. Reuter, and the office handles court-record questions, filing fees, probate filing fees, local forms, and copy issues.
The official local pages direct users to Case.net for pending-case information, Track This Case for electronic updates, Remote Public Access information for public documents, local forms, local rules, filing fees, probate fees, and bail-bond information. For the broad court file, use the Circuit Clerk. For a certified marriage license or land record, use the Recorder of Deeds. For a sheriff incident report, use the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office records process rather than the court clerk.
Jefferson County Courthouse
300 Main Street
Hillsboro, MO 63050
Mailing: P.O. Box 100, Hillsboro, MO 63050
636-797-5443
Circuit Clerk hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, excluding state holidays
Federal Court Records Separate
Jefferson County Circuit Court is a Missouri state trial court. Federal cases for Jefferson County are different. The research places Jefferson County in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division. Federal criminal cases, federal-question civil suits, diversity cases, bankruptcy matters, and federal appeals do not appear as Jefferson County Circuit Court cases in Missouri Case.net.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri homepage is the source for this federal court image.
Use Missouri Case.net for Jefferson County Circuit Court records and federal court tools for federal case records.
The federal county and division page is the source for this Eastern Division image.
The division source confirms that Jefferson County federal matters route to the Eastern Division, not to the county Circuit Clerk.
PACER's Missouri Eastern District Court lookup page is the source for this federal case lookup image.
PACER is the federal case-search system, while Jefferson County Circuit Court cases use Missouri court access tools.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri homepage is the source for this bankruptcy court image.
Bankruptcy cases are federal matters and are not filed with the Jefferson County Circuit Court.
PACER's Missouri Eastern Bankruptcy lookup page is the source for this bankruptcy lookup image.
The bankruptcy PACER lookup is useful only for federal bankruptcy files, not state circuit, probate, family, or municipal records.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri is the source for this federal prosecution image.
Federal prosecutions use federal courts and federal agencies, while Jefferson County criminal cases filed under Missouri law stay in the Circuit Court system.