Missouri's central repository is the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the State Highway Patrol, and its rule is open versus closed. Any individual, business or agency may buy a personal identifier search by name, date of birth and Social Security number for $16.00 and receive the open record: convictions and guilty pleas, arrests less than 30 days old, charges filed by a prosecutor and awaiting disposition, and suspended impositions of sentence still on probation. The Patrol calls that result a possible match.
A fingerprint based search for $20.00 is a positive match and can reach the closed record, meaning every arrest whether or not charged, charges dismissed, nolle prossed or acquitted, suspended impositions of sentence after probation and expunged or closed records under Chapter 610; closed records go only to the applicant or to a qualified entity the chapter authorizes. Both searches run through the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site, MACHS.
- Name search: $16.00 per personal identifier search on the MACHS name search portal by any major credit card plus a small convenience fee, or by mail on form SHP-158 with a check or money order; open records only.
- Fingerprint search: $20.00, or $14.00 for foster care placements and concealed carry endorsements, by appointment with IDEMIA at a $12.00 service fee, making a state check $35.00 and a state and FBI check $47.00 for authorized entities; results in one to five business days to an agency, generally seven to ten to an applicant.
- Notarized letter: $5.00 more on either search; the mailed form prices a notarized name search at $21.00 and a notarized fingerprint search at $25.00.
- Outside Missouri: an FD-258 card taken by local law enforcement, mailed with the fee to the Patrol's CJIS Division in Jefferson City, about four to six weeks, or sent through IDEMIA to speed it up.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Missouri's own systems: the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Record Check page, the Request for Criminal Record Check form SHP-158, the Missouri Automated Criminal History Site, the MACHS applicant fingerprint services form instructions, the SHP-984 applicant fingerprint form, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
What the Missouri Central Repository holds
The repository collects, maintains and disseminates criminal history record information as sections 43.500 and 589.400 of the Revised Statutes define it: the arrests, prosecutions, final dispositions, correctional supervision and releases that criminal justice agencies record on a person. All felony and serious misdemeanor arrests, the reportable arrests, must be sent to it, along with sex offender registration information and every alcohol and drug related traffic offense. The Criminal Record Check page describes the division as responsible for complete and accurate criminal histories, incident and arrest reports and statistics, used by law enforcement and available for non criminal justice requests.
Open records and closed records
A personal identifier search, the name based search, is answered from open records only and is considered a possible match. Open records are convictions and guilty pleas, arrest information less than 30 days old, charges the prosecutor has filed that await the court's final disposition, and records carrying a suspended imposition of sentence during the probation period. A fingerprint based search compares the applicant's prints with the arrest prints on file, is considered a positive match, and returns open records or, at the applicant's choice, the closed and complete record: all criminal history data including every arrest with or without filed charges, charges nolle prossed, dismissed or found not guilty, a suspended imposition of sentence after probation is complete, and expunged or closed records under Chapter 610. Closed records are released only for a fingerprint comparison and only to the applicant or to a qualified entity authorized under Chapter 610. The form warns that knowingly violating sections 43.532, 43.540, 610.100, 610.105, 610.106 or 610.120 is a class A misdemeanor.
The MACHS name search portal: $16
The Missouri Automated Criminal History Site is the Patrol's one stop site, split into a name search portal and a fingerprint search portal. The name search portal lets any member of the public request and receive a personal identifier search online for $16.00 plus a small convenience fee, paid by any major credit card. The same search goes by mail on form SHP-158, which asks for the applicant's name, every other name ever used, date of birth, race, sex and Social Security number, at $16.00 or $21.00 with a notary letter, by check or money order for the exact amount payable to the State of Missouri Criminal Record System Fund, to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, CJIS Division, P.O. Box 9500, Jefferson City, MO 65102-9500. Cash, credit cards and foreign currency are not accepted by mail, requests from outside the United States are paid in U.S. dollars by money order only, state agencies may be invoiced, and any return mail faster than standard is paid by the requester.
The fingerprint search: $20, IDEMIA and the turnaround
A fingerprint based search costs $20.00 per request, or $14.00 for concealed carry permits under section 571.101 and foster care placements under section 210.487, with a $5.00 notary letter on request; the mailed form prices the fingerprint search with notary at $25.00, with a completed FD-258 applicant card enclosed. Through MACHS, any member of the public schedules an appointment with IDEMIA, the state fingerprint vendor, whose Livescan capture sends the prints to the Patrol; IDEMIA never sees criminal history. IDEMIA's service fee is $12.00, so the Patrol prices a state check through IDEMIA at $35.00 ($20.00 plus $15.00) and a state and federal check for authorized entities at $47.00 ($20.00 plus $15.00 plus $12.00), with the FBI portion listed at $15.00 or $13.00 for volunteers. The fingerprint portal needs a four character registration number from the employer or licensing agency; a person who wants a fingerprint check for personal review calls the division at (573) 526-6153, option 3. IDEMIA takes appointments at (844) 543-9712, and the Patrol says processing is generally seven to ten business days with results mailed to the qualified entity or applicant, while its SHP-984 instructions put an agency's results at approximately one to five business days.
From outside Missouri
Someone living outside Missouri who needs a fingerprint based Missouri or, where authorized, Missouri and national check asks local law enforcement in their own state for prints on an FBI FD-258 card. Ink and electronic images are both accepted, but agencies outside Missouri may not transmit electronically; the completed card and fee go to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, CJIS Division, P.O. Box 9500, Jefferson City, MO 65102-9500, with processing of about four to six weeks. Mailing the card to IDEMIA for electronic submission may be faster, and the division answers questions at (573) 526-6153. A federal record for personal reasons comes from the FBI's Identity History Summary Check, not from the Patrol.
Registering for an agency's check
An authorized entity gives its applicants the SHP-984 Applicant Fingerprint Services Form with its four digit MACHS registration number, agency name, ORI and any OCA. The applicant registers at machs.mo.gov through the fingerprint portal, enters the registration number, completes the personal information, verifies it, and is redirected to IDEMIA with a transaction control number and universal enrollment ID to present at the fingerprint location with their date of birth; a mismatch between the form and the registration must be fixed before continuing. The fee is calculated from the registration number and paid to IDEMIA at fingerprinting unless the agency bills it; IDEMIA then transmits the photo, data and prints to the Patrol. For reinstatement searches the court case number is required under section 302.060. The Patrol runs a separate MoVECHS program for volunteer and employee checks, and child care and in home care screening runs through the Department of Health and Senior Services Family Care Safety Registry at 866-422-6872.
Reading a Missouri result
A $16 name search is a possible match limited to open records, so it misses old dismissed charges and expunged matters by design and may misfire on a common name. The $20 fingerprint search is the positive match, and only the person themselves, or an entity Chapter 610 names, can see the closed record it unlocks. A notary letter turns either result into a document for a licensing board or a foreign authority, and anything federal needs the FBI's own check or an authorized entity's $47 state and federal search.
Questions about background checks in Missouri
Related Missouri records
The Patrol's record is one of the Missouri records this site covers: the Missouri court records guide explains the courts' own case files behind each disposition, the arrest records guide covers what an arrest makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the Patrol's registry, and the Missouri county pages list each sheriff and circuit clerk.