How to Search Stone County Court Records
Stone County directs public users to Missouri Case.net for public case information. The county court page says Stone County went live on Case.net on November 15, 2005, and that public case information for Circuit Court Divisions I, II, and III can be searched online. Case.net is the first stop for parties, attorneys, docket actions, documents filed, scheduled hearings, trials, and payments when Pay By Web appears on a case.
For a Stone County court records search, start with the known fact that best identifies the case. A case number is the cleanest route. A person or business name can work when the number is unknown. Filing-date searches help when a case was opened near a known date, and scheduled-hearing searches help find court dates. Certified copies, older records, and items not visible online still route through the Circuit Clerk.
- Open Case.net from the Missouri courts site or from the Stone County Circuit Court page.
- Search by litigant name, filing date, case number, or scheduled hearings and trials.
- Narrow to Stone County or the 39th Judicial Circuit when the portal asks for a court or county.
- Open the matching case and review parties, attorneys, docket actions, filed documents, and court dates.
- Use Track This Case for updates or Pay By Web when the case shows that payment option.
- Contact the Circuit Clerk for certified copies, restricted access questions, or files not fully shown online.
| Search Field | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Litigant Name | Person or business search | Useful when the case number is not known. |
| Filing Date | Date-based lookup | Best when the filing window is known. |
| Case Number | Exact case lookup | Strongest path for a known court file. |
| Scheduled Hearings and Trials | Docket lookup | Helps find court dates and hearing settings. |
| Pay By Web | Payment action | Available only on eligible cases. |
Stone County Court Offices
The main local court facility is the Stone County Judicial Center in Galena. The Circuit Court office is on the second floor, and the court mailing address is P.O. Box 18. The Circuit Clerk is Mechelee Lebow. Her office maintains court files, collects and disburses money paid into court, assists court functions, and manages juries. Nearby county offices matter too, because the County Clerk, Recorder of Deeds, and Sheriff each hold different records.
The Stone County office cluster can save a trip when the right office is clear before leaving home. Court cases and divorce decrees route to the Circuit Clerk. Marriage-license records and land records route to the Recorder of Deeds. County commission and election records route to the County Clerk. Sheriff incident records, jail custody, bond notes, and report requests route to the Sheriff's Office.
Stone County Circuit Court
110 South Maple
P.O. Box 18
Galena, MO 65656
(417) 357-6114 or (417) 357-6115
Stone County Circuit Clerk
Stone County Judicial Center, second floor
Galena, MO 65656
(417) 357-6511
Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; lunch closure 12:00 to 12:30
Stone County Sheriff's Office
110 South Maple Street
Galena, MO 65656
417-357-6116, 24 hours
The older Stone County Circuit Court page remains useful because it lists the same court function details, Case.net access, court fees, probate costs, and payment links captured during research. The current county mirror carries the local Circuit Court page under the county's newer domain.
The official Stone County Sheriff's Office homepage links to the roster, forms, alerts, crime tips, sex-offender search, and sheriff contact pages.
Sheriff records are a separate access channel from court files, so jail and incident questions should not be sent to the Circuit Clerk first.
Stone County Circuit Court System
Stone County is part of Missouri's 39th Judicial Circuit. Missouri uses circuit courts as its primary trial courts, and Stone County court records can include circuit, associate circuit, probate, juvenile, small claims, municipal, and treatment-court matters. Local judicial officers identified in the research include Presiding Circuit Judge David A. Cole, Circuit Judge Alan Blankenship, Associate Circuit Judge Eric O. Chavez, and Associate Circuit Judge Matt Selby.
Local rules add useful docket context. Judge Cole's law day is the second Monday of each month. Judge Blankenship's law day is the first Monday and Tuesday unless docket entries state otherwise. Rule 36.3 says the appropriate clerk prepares dockets for each judge's Law Day and prepares dockets of scheduled trials or motions. Those local rules explain why Case.net docket entries and hearing searches matter for Stone County court records.
Case flow: Municipal or associate circuit matter > Circuit Court setting or disposition > Missouri Court of Appeals > Supreme Court of Missouri when further review applies.
| Level or Division | Local Role | Record Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court of Missouri | Highest state appellate court | Statewide rules and final state review. |
| Missouri Court of Appeals | Intermediate appeals | Appeals from circuit decisions may move here. |
| Stone County Circuit Court | Primary trial court in the 39th Judicial Circuit | Civil, criminal, domestic, probate, juvenile, traffic, conservation, and small claims records. |
| Associate Circuit Court | Associate judges hear assigned matters | Associate civil, small claims, misdemeanors, traffic, and early felony stages. |
| Galena Municipal Court | Municipal division of the circuit court | City ordinance and municipal traffic cases, with Case.net used for tracking. |
| Probate Division | Part of the Circuit Court | Estates, guardianships, conservatorships, refusals, heirship, and sensitive orders. |
Stone County Court Record Types
Stone County court records are not one file type. The Civil and Domestic Relations Division files civil petitions, small claims, summonses, subpoenas, executions, garnishments, transcript of judgments, protection orders, administrative orders, and mechanic liens. The Criminal Division files and processes traffic, water patrol, conservation tickets, misdemeanors, and felonies. Probate and Juvenile divisions have their own filing categories and access limits.
Public users should also separate court records from sheriff records and recorder records. Booking data can show an arrest charge at the jail, but the filed criminal case shows the formal charge, docket events, plea, disposition, and sentence. Marriage licenses are maintained by the Recorder of Deeds, while divorce decrees are Circuit Court files. Probate filings are court records, but some guardianship, mental-health, and minor-related documents can be restricted.
- Civil records: petitions, small claims, garnishments, executions, liens, orders, and judgments.
- Criminal records: misdemeanor and felony case files, docket entries, pleas, dispositions, sentencing, probation, and warrants.
- Traffic records: traffic, water patrol, conservation, and municipal ticket cases.
- Domestic records: divorce, paternity, child-support, protection-order, and related family filings.
- Probate records: estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, refusals, heirship, and trust-related filings.
- Juvenile records: abuse, neglect, delinquency, paternity, and adoption matters with restricted access.
What Stone County Court Records Show
A public Stone County Case.net result can identify parties, attorneys, actions taken, documents filed, and scheduled hearings or trials. The online docket is a chronological event list. It can show a motion, order, hearing, payment event, arraignment, plea, judgment, disposition, bond forfeiture, or warrant event. A filed document is different from a docket entry; the document is the pleading, motion, order, or other paper itself, and public download can depend on the record type and security level.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The public identifier used to search and match the court file. |
| Court or division | Stone County Circuit Court, associate division, municipal division, probate, juvenile, or assigned judge. |
| Parties | Names of litigants, defendants, petitioners, respondents, or businesses named in the case. |
| Attorneys | Counsel listed for each side when that information is public. |
| Docket entries | Actions taken, settings, motions, orders, pleas, judgments, and other dated case events. |
| Documents filed | Filed papers identified by the court record, though viewing may be limited by access rules. |
| Disposition | The outcome, such as dismissal, judgment, guilty plea, sentence, probation, or other final action. |
| Financials | Court costs, fines, Pay By Web eligibility, bond, or payment entries when shown. |
- Docket
- The dated list of events in a court case.
- Disposition
- The result of a case or charge.
- Certified copy
- A copy authenticated by the clerk for official use.
- Capias
- A warrant commanding arrest, often tied to failure to appear.
Stone County Public Court Access
Missouri public-record law supports access, but Stone County court records are controlled by court access rules, confidentiality statutes, redaction rules, and the clerk's custody of the file. The county path is practical: search Case.net first, then call or visit the Circuit Clerk for certified copies, older records, records not visible online, or payment questions. Law-enforcement reports use a different route through the Sheriff's Office record request form.
Key Statutes:
RSMo 610.011 says Missouri policy favors open public records unless a law allows closure.
RSMo 610.026 sets public-record copy-fee rules for public bodies.
RSMo 509.520 governs redaction of personal identifiers in court filings.
RSMo 211.321 restricts juvenile court records.
The Missouri Sunshine Law matters for sheriff records too. RSMo 610.100 addresses arrest and incident reports, while investigative material can be closed while active. That distinction explains why a jail booking, a sheriff incident report, a State Patrol arrest report, and a court case file may show different parts of the same event.
Restricted Stone County Court Records
Not all Stone County court records are public. Juvenile cases, adoption records, sealed records, expunged criminal records, some mental-health matters, and documents with protected identifiers can be hidden, redacted, or limited. Stone County's Juvenile Division handles abuse and neglect, delinquency, paternity, and adoption matters, but those records should not be treated like ordinary public adult case files.
Closed criminal records under RSMo 610.120 are not destroyed, but general public access is blocked except for listed agencies and persons. Expungement under RSMo 610.140 can remove qualifying records from public access after statutory steps are met. A person seeking expungement should identify the full case record, confirm the disposition, and file in the court where the case was prosecuted.
Note: A missing online result does not always mean no case exists; the record may be restricted, older, sealed, or filed under a different search name.
Stone County Sheriff and Jail Records
The Stone County Sheriff's Office is led by Sheriff Doug Rader. The sheriff site provides a Detention Center roster with current inmates and a 48-hour release path. The roster can be sorted by name or date, filtered by current or released status, searched by first or last name, and opened to a profile. A sample profile in the research showed name, mugshot, booking number, age, gender, race, arresting agency, booking date, charge, and bond.
The sheriff roster warns that charges and bail amounts may change after court appearances. Bond companies and people posting bail are told to contact Detention Center staff for current bail amount, charges, and case numbers. For full custody details, use the Stone County inmate records page. For warrants, the key point is that no public Stone County active-warrant list was found in official sources; court dockets, the sheriff roster, and phone checks form the fallback chain.
The Stone County roster landing page offers current inmate and 48-hour release choices.
The county court page and sheriff site work together for many criminal-record questions: court files show formal case activity, while the jail roster shows current custody and booking details.
Stone County Warrants and Traffic Records
Stone County warrant searches should start with court and custody channels because the research did not locate a public sheriff active-warrant database. Case.net can show docket clues such as failures to appear, bond forfeitures, and capias events. The Circuit Clerk can answer court-date, payment, and case-status questions. The Sheriff or Detention Center can confirm whether a person is in custody and whether booking charges or bond have changed.
Traffic records can be split between Stone County Circuit Court and municipal divisions such as Galena Municipal Court. Galena holds court the second Thursday at 5:00 p.m., lists Carmen Malloy as court clerk, and directs users to Case.net for cases and court dates. Court traffic records are different from Missouri driver records, which are kept by the Department of Revenue and can show license status, points, suspensions, and revocations.
| Record | Held By | Access Route |
|---|---|---|
| Court traffic case | Stone County Circuit Court or municipal division | Case.net, Circuit Clerk, Pay By Web, or municipal clerk. |
| Driver record | Missouri Department of Revenue | MyDMV, DOR request form, or 573-526-2407. |
| Warrant event | Court and law enforcement | Case.net, Circuit Clerk, sheriff custody check, or municipal court. |
Stone County Marriage Divorce Probate
Marriage, divorce, and probate records in Stone County do not all belong to the same office. Marriage-license information is handled by the Recorder of Deeds. Recorder Amy Larson's page says marriage applications are by appointment only and gives the recorder office at 108-A East 4th Street. The Recorder also links to iCounty online search for recorded documents, but the login page requires a user ID and password.
Divorce records are court records. The Missouri Bureau of Vital Records maintains a central registry of Missouri marriages and divorces since July 1, 1948, and it can issue certified statements. A divorce statement is not a divorce decree. Decrees must be requested from the Circuit Clerk in the county where the decree was granted. Probate matters are filed in the Probate Division of the Circuit Court, not in a separate county probate court.
The Missouri Bureau of Vital Records keeps state-level marriage and divorce statement records, while county marriage and divorce decree work stays local.
State statements can help prove that a marriage or divorce is indexed, but court-certified decrees and local marriage-license records still come from the proper county office.
- Probate
- Court process for estates, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships.
- Executor
- A person appointed to handle estate duties under a will.
- Conservatorship
- Court-supervised management of another person's finances.
Stone County Court Records Fees
Stone County's court page lists several filing and copy costs, and the probate cost sheet gives detailed estate and guardianship costs. Online case lookup may be free for basic public information, but official copies, certifications, filings, and authenticated copies carry fees. For any payment that appears eligible online, Pay By Web may be available through Case.net. If Pay By Web does not appear, the county directs users to call the court.
| Item | Fee or Note |
|---|---|
| Associate civil filing | $48.50 |
| Circuit civil filing | $100.50 |
| Domestic relations divorce or paternity | $100.50 |
| Small claims | $35.50 |
| Garnishment clerk fee | $10.00 |
| Mechanic lien | $5.00 |
| Authenticated copy | $5.00 |
| Probate copies | $1.00 per page |
| Probate certification | $1.75 per page |
Stone County Federal Court Records
Federal records for Stone County are separate from Missouri circuit court files. Stone County is in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The Western District boundary information places Stone County in the Joplin or Southwestern Division, and 28 U.S.C. 105 lists Stone County in that federal division. Federal civil, federal criminal, bankruptcy, and federal agency cases use federal systems rather than Case.net.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri lists regional courthouse information. Federal docket access uses CM/ECF and PACER, including separate systems for district court and bankruptcy court. Federal custody records are also separate from the Stone County jail roster; sentenced federal prisoners are searched through federal prison systems, while sentenced Missouri state offenders are searched through the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The Western District of Missouri court site is the official federal court source for Stone County federal cases.
Federal dockets do not replace Stone County Circuit Court records; they cover federal jurisdiction and must be searched through federal court tools.
Stone County State Custody Records
County jail custody and state prison custody are not the same record. The Stone County Detention Center roster is the local source for current county custody and recent releases. The Missouri Department of Corrections is the state-level source for sentenced prisoners, parole, probation, and post-conviction custody information. DOC also publishes Sunshine Law material about offender data, including nightly data-file notes.
Use the county roster for current Stone County jail questions. Use the state system when a person has been sentenced to Missouri DOC custody or is under state supervision. Use the court case file to read the actual disposition, sentence, probation terms, or later revocation entries when public. These records can overlap but they are not interchangeable.
The Missouri Department of Corrections is the state source for sentenced-offender information, not pretrial Stone County jail custody.
DOC records help after a state sentence or supervision event, while Case.net remains the route for public court-case history.
Stone County Record Limits
Public record searches can lag behind real events. A sheriff booking charge can change after court appearance. A court docket may show a capias issued before a recall or payment entry is posted. A traffic case may show a disposition before the Missouri driver record reflects points or license status. Stone County's own jail profile warning tells users to call Detention Center staff before relying on bond, charge, or case-number details for posting bail.
Older files, certified copies, restricted records, and sealed records usually require direct office contact. A no-result search can mean the wrong name, wrong court, older record, nonpublic status, or a case filed under a different style. The best record path is to match the office to the record: Case.net for court dockets, Circuit Clerk for official court copies, Sheriff for incident and custody records, Recorder for marriage records, and DOR for driver records.
Note: Confirm urgent court dates, warrants, bond, and payment status with the court or sheriff before relying on an online result.
Stone County Court History
The strongest official history found for Stone County court records is the local Case.net milestone. Stone County public case information became available through Case.net on November 15, 2005. That change gave public users after-hours access to case information and helped people who did not live near the courthouse track parties, attorneys, actions, and documents without calling an attorney or traveling to Galena.
Current court personnel history also appears on the Circuit Court page. Mechelee Lebow was elected Circuit Clerk on November 6, 2018, and took office January 1, 2019. Eric O. Chavez was elected Associate Circuit Judge in 2022 and took office January 1, 2023. Matt Selby was appointed Associate Circuit Judge in November 2023. David A. Cole was appointed Presiding Circuit Judge on February 11, 2021, and Alan Blankenship was appointed Circuit Judge in August 2023.
Stone County Court Records FAQ
Can Stone County court records be searched online?
Yes. Stone County directs users to Missouri Case.net for public case information. Case.net can be searched by litigant name, filing date, case number, and scheduled hearings or trials. Certified copies and records not visible online still come from the Circuit Clerk.
Who is the court record clerk in Stone County?
The court-record clerk is the Circuit Clerk. The County Clerk is a separate county administration and election office, and the Recorder of Deeds handles marriage-license and land records.
Are Stone County warrants listed online?
No official public Stone County sheriff active-warrant list was located during research. Use Case.net for court docket clues, call the Circuit Clerk for court status, call the sheriff for custody checks, and contact the relevant municipal court for city tickets.
Where are divorce decrees requested?
Divorce decrees are Circuit Court records. The Missouri Bureau of Vital Records can issue certified marriage or divorce statements, but a statement is not the decree and must not be treated as a court-certified divorce judgment.
Where are Stone County inmates searched?
The Stone County Sheriff's Office posts a current roster and a 48-hour release path. The roster is for county jail custody. Missouri DOC records are used for sentenced state offenders and supervision records.