Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 30, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Howard County, Missouri, has about 10,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Missouri the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Justice Information Services Division is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Howard County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Howard County public records, Howard County arrest records, Howard County warrants, Howard County court records, Howard County police reports, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Howard County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Howard County is filed in the Howard County Circuit Court, and the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Howard County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=1599 (page title: Howard County Local Rules & Filing Information), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
Statewide, Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
The Missouri Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Missouri is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the open record search on the MACHS site lets anyone check convictions by name, through the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Justice Information Services Division. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Howard County
The Howard County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Fayette and Glasgow keep the arrest records in Howard County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
Together, the two agencies in Howard County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 54 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Howard County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Howard County in 2025
The two agencies in Howard County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 36 violent and 50 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 86 crimes in 2025 against 77 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Howard County public records guide.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Howard County
Charges in Howard County are filed by the Prosecuting Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Howard County Circuit Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at como.gov/law/prosecutor (page title: Prosecution Division | City of Columbia Missouri), phone 573.874.7229, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Howard County
Registered sex offenders living in Howard County are listed on the Missouri Sex Offender Registry, run by the Missouri State Highway Patrol at mshp.dps.missouri.gov/CJ38/searchRegistry.jsp. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Howard County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Missouri Sunshine Law a county office must answer a request within 3 business days, and it may charge research time and copying.
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Howard County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Howard County and Missouri. These criminal records pages from its Howard County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Missouri, Sex Offender Registry Resources (mshp.dps.mo.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Howard County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Justice Information Services Division: the open record search on the MACHS site lets anyone check convictions by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Missouri Sunshine Law.
Can I search Howard County criminal cases online?
Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Missouri criminal history?
Through the same name-based search, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Howard County?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at 573.874.7229, which files its cases in the Howard County Circuit Court.
Is this the official Howard County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.