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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2851
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE SCHUL TE.
6483H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapters 59 and 67, RSMo, by adding thereto two new sections relating to
residential address confidentiality on county documents.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapters 59 and 67, RSMo, are amended by adding thereto two new
2 sections, to be known as sections 59.670 and 67.5137, to read as follows:
59.670. 1. The prov isions of this section shall be known and may be cited as the
2 "Missouri Shield Act".
3 2. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
4 (1) "Eligible documents", documents or instruments that are maintained by and
5 located in the office of the county recor der that ar e accessed electr onically;
6 (2) "Eligible person", any curren t or former law enforcem ent officer or judge;
7 (3) "Indexes", indexes maintained by and located in the office of the county
8 r ecorder that are accessed electr onically;
9 (4) "Judge", any municipal, associate, cir cuit, or appellate judge;
10 (5) "Law enforcem ent officer", any commissioned peace officer with the power
11 to arres t for a violation of the criminal code who is employed by any unit of the state or
12 any county , charter county , city , charter city , municipality , district, college, university ,
13 or any other political subdivision or is employed by the board of police commissioners as
14 defined in chapter 84;
15 (6) "Shielded", a proh ibition against the general public's electr onic access to
16 eligible documents and access to the unique identifier and rec ording data contained in
17 indexes for eligible documents.
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 3. Notwithstanding any other pr ovision of law , in any county an eligible person
19 may r equest that the general public be pr ohibited fr om accessing the unique identifier
20 and the record ing data contained in indexes of re corded instruments maintained by the
21 county record er and may req uest the county reco rder to pr ohibit access to that person's
22 r esidential addr ess and telephone number contained in instruments or writings
23 r ecorded by the county r ecorder .
24 4. An eligible person may requ est this action by filing an affidavit that states the
25 following on an application form developed by the office of the state courts
26 administrator in agreement with an association of counties, an organization of peace
27 officers, and the motor vehicle and driver licensing division of the department of
28 r evenue:
29 (1) The person's full legal name and res idential addr ess;
30 (2) The full legal description and par cel number of the person's pr operty;
31 (3) The document locator number and record ing date of each eligible document
32 for which the person r equests access restriction under this section; and
33 (4) A copy of pages fr om each eligible document for which the person r equests
34 r ecord shielding that includes the document locator number and the person's
35 identifying information, including the person's full legal name and r esidential addr ess.
36 5. If an eligible person is also request ing that the general public be proh ibited
37 fr om accessing records maintained by the county clerk, collector , assessor , tr easurer , or
38 auditor under section 67.5135, the eligible person may combine the requ est with the
39 r equest filed under subsection 4 of this section by filing one affidavit. The affidavit and
40 subsequent action by the appr opriate authorities shall meet the requi rem ents of this
41 section and section 67.5135.
42 6. An affidavit filed under subsection 4 or 5 of this section shall be filed with the
43 pr esiding judge in the county wher e the eligible person res ides. The pr esiding judge
44 shall review the affidavit to determine whether the action req uested shall be granted. If
45 the pr esiding judge concludes that the affidavit meets the requ irem ents of this section
46 and that the action req uested by the affiant will red uce a danger to the life or safety of
47 the affiant or another person, the pr esiding judge shall issue a court order instructing
48 the county reco rder to shield the affiant's eligible documents listed on the affidavit. Any
49 court order for r ecord shielding shall expire five years fr om the date of issuance. An
50 eligible person may submit an affidavit for a new court order to continue rec ord
51 shielding upon expiration of a pr evious order .
52 7. The clerk of the court shall file the court order and send a copy of such order
53 and the affidavit to the r ecorder of deeds in each county listed on the affidavit. Not
54 mor e than ten business days after the date on which the county reco rder receiv es the
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55 court order and affidavit, the county r ecorder shall shield the eligible documents listed
56 on the affidavit. The county recorder shall not reco rd the court order or the affidavit.
57 8. On motion to the court, the court may temporarily stay or permanently vacate
58 all or part of the court order if the court determines that:
59 (1) An instrument or document has been shielded in error;
60 (2) The original affiant no longer lives at the addr ess listed in the original
61 affidavit;
62 (3) The cause for the original affidavit no longer exists; or
63 (4) T emporary access to the instrument or document is needed.
64 9. The county recorde r shall rem ove shielding for all r ecords under this section
65 on the first Thursday of June in the year after an order expire s. The county reco rder
66 shall electr onically send notice to the email addr ess listed on the affidavit six months
67 befor e the date the addr ess shielding will terminate.
68 10. In order to include subsequent eligible documents in a court order , the
69 eligible person shall present to the county r ecorder at the time of record ing a certified
70 copy of the court order . The county r ecorder shall ensur e that the eligible document is
71 shielded within ten business days.
72 1 1. The pro visions of this section shall not pro hibit access to county reco rder
73 r ecords by:
74 (1) Parties to an instrument;
75 (2) A law enforcem ent officer in performance of official duties when the officer
76 pr ovides a subpoena, court order , or sear ch warrant for the r ecords;
77 (3) A title insur er , title insurance agent, or an escr ow agent licensed by the
78 department of commer ce and insurance;
79 (4) Licensed attorneys;
80 (5) A person with a notarized r elease fr om the party to the instrument or a court
81 order; or
82 (6) County , state, or local government offices with authority to access the r ecords
83 under state or local law , rule, or regu lation.
84 12. No county record er shall be liable for any damages under this section,
85 pr ovided the reco rder made a good faith effort to comply with the prov isions of this
86 section. No county reco rder shall be liable for the re lease of any eligible document or
87 any data fro m any eligible document that was rel eased or accessed prior to the
88 document being shielded under this section.
89 13. The pr ovisions of this section shall take effect June 1, 2027.
67.5137. 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
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2 (1) "Eligible documents", documents or instruments that are maintained by and
3 located in the office of the county clerk, collector , assessor , tr easurer , or auditor that are
4 accessed electr onically;
5 (2) "Eligible person", any curren t or former law enforcem ent officer or judge;
6 (3) "Judge", any municipal, associate, cir cuit, or appellate judge;
7 (4) "Law enforcem ent officer", any commissioned peace officer with the power
8 to arres t for a violation of the criminal code who is employed by any unit of the state or
9 any county , charter county , city , charter city , municipality , district, college, university ,
10 or any other political subdivision or is employed by the board of police commissioners as
11 defined in chapter 84;
12 (5) "Shielded", a proh ibition against the general public's electr onic access to
13 eligible documents and access to res idential addr ess and phone number information
14 contained in indexes for eligible documents.
15 2. Notwithstanding any other pr ovision of law , in any county an eligible person
16 may r equest that the general public be pr ohibited fro m accessing that person's
17 r esidential addr ess and telephone number that ar e contained in instruments, writings,
18 and information maintained by the county clerk under chapter 51, collector under
19 chapter 52, assessor under chapter 53, trea sur er under chapter 54, or auditor under
20 chapter 55.
21 3. An eligible person may requ est this action by filing an affidavit that states the
22 person's full legal name and res idential addr ess on an application form developed by the
23 office of the state courts administrator in agr eement with an association of counties, an
24 organization of peace officers, and the motor vehicle and driver licensing division of the
25 department of reve nue.
26 4. If an eligible person is also request ing that the general public be proh ibited
27 fr om accessing record s maintained by the county collector under section 59.670, the
28 eligible person may combine the requ est with the requ est filed under subsection 3 of this
29 section by filing one affidavit. The affidavit and subsequent action by the appr opriate
30 authorities shall meet the req uirements of this section and section 59.670.
31 5. An affidavit filed under subsection 3 or 4 of this section shall be filed with the
32 pr esiding judge in the county wher e the eligible person res ides. The pr esiding judge
33 shall review the affidavit to determine whether the action req uested shall be granted. If
34 the pr esiding judge concludes that the affidavit meets the requ irem ents of this section
35 and that the action req uested by the affiant will red uce a danger to the life or safety of
36 the affiant or another person, the pr esiding judge shall issue a court order instructing
37 the county officer to shield the affiant's eligible documents listed on the affidavit. Any
38 court order for r ecord shielding shall expire five years fr om the date of issuance. An
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39 eligible person may submit an affidavit for a new court order to continue rec ord
40 shielding upon expiration of a pr evious order .
41 6. The clerk of the court shall file the court order and send a copy of such order
42 and the affidavit to the applicable county officer in each county listed on the affidavit.
43 Not mor e than ten business days after the date on which the county officer recei ves the
44 court order and affidavit, the county officer shall shield the eligible documents listed on
45 the affidavit.
46 7. On motion to the court, the court may temporarily stay or permanently vacate
47 all or part of the court order if the court determines that:
48 (1) An instrument or document has been shielded in error;
49 (2) The original affiant no longer lives at the addr ess listed in the original
50 affidavit;
51 (3) The cause for the original affidavit no longer exists; or
52 (4) T emporary access to the instrument or document is needed.
53 8. The county officer shall rem ove shielding for all record s under this section on
54 the first Thursday of June in the year after an order expir es. The county officer may
55 electr onically send notice to the email addr ess listed on the affidavit six months before
56 the date the addr ess shielding will terminate.
57 9. The pr ovisions of this section shall not pr ohibit access to county r ecords by:
58 (1) Parties to an instrument;
59 (2) A law enforcem ent officer in performance of official duties when the officer
60 pr ovides a subpoena, court order , or sear ch warrant for the r ecords;
61 (3) Licensed attorneys;
62 (4) A person with a notarized r elease fr om the party to the instrument or a court
63 order; or
64 (5) County , state, or local government offices with authority to access the r ecords
65 under state or local law , rule, or regu lation.
66 10. No county officer shall be liable for any damages under this section, pr ovided
67 the county officer made a good faith effort to comply with the pr ovisions of this section.
68 No county officer shall be liable for the relea se of any eligible document or any data
69 fr om any eligible document that was released or accessed prior to the document being
70 shielded under this section.
71 1 1. The pr ovisions of this section shall take effect June 1, 2027.
✔
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