HOUSE BILL NO. 1296 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SCHULTE.
2782H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To 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 provisions 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 recorder that are accessed electronically; 6 (2) "Eligible person", any current or former law enforcement officer or judge; 7 (3) "Indexes", indexes maintained by and located in the office of the county 8 recorder that are accessed electronically; 9 (4) "Judge", any municipal, associate, circuit, or appellate judge; 10 (5) "Law enforcement officer", any commissioned peace officer with the power 11 to arrest 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 prohibition against the general public's electronic access to 16 eligible documents and access to the unique identifier and recording data contained in 17 indexes for eligible documents.
EXPLANATION — 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. HB 1296 2
18 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any county an eligible person 19 may request that the general public be prohibited from accessing the unique identifier 20 and the recording data contained in indexes of recorded instruments maintained by the 21 county recorder and may request the county recorder to prohibit access to that person's 22 residential address and telephone number contained in instruments or writings 23 recorded by the county recorder. 24 4. An eligible person may request 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 revenue: 29 (1) The person's full legal name and residential address; 30 (2) The full legal description and parcel number of the person's property; 31 (3) The document locator number and recording date of each eligible document 32 for which the person requests access restriction under this section; 33 (4) A copy of pages from each eligible document for which the person requests 34 record shielding that includes the document locator number and the person's 35 identifying information, including the person's full legal name and residential address. 36 5. If an eligible person is also requesting that the general public be prohibited 37 from accessing records maintained by the county clerk, collector, assessor, treasurer, or 38 auditor under section 67.5135, the eligible person may combine the request with the 39 request filed under subsection 4 of this section by filing one affidavit. The affidavit and 40 subsequent action by the appropriate authorities shall meet the requirements 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 presiding judge in the county where the eligible person resides. The presiding judge 44 shall review the affidavit to determine whether the action requested shall be granted. If 45 the presiding judge concludes that the affidavit meets the requirements of this section 46 and that the action requested by the affiant will reduce a danger to the life or safety of 47 the affiant or another person, the presiding judge shall issue a court order instructing 48 the county recorder to shield the affiant's eligible documents listed on the affidavit. Any 49 court order for record shielding shall expire five years from the date of issuance. An 50 eligible person may submit an affidavit for a new court order to continue record 51 shielding upon expiration of a previous 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 recorder of deeds in each county listed on the affidavit. Not 54 more than ten business days after the date on which the county recorder receives the HB 1296 3
55 court order and affidavit, the county recorder shall shield the eligible documents listed 56 on the affidavit. The county recorder shall not record 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 address listed in the original 61 affidavit; 62 (3) The cause for the original affidavit no longer exists; or 63 (4) Temporary access to the instrument or document is needed. 64 9. The county recorder shall remove shielding for all records under this section 65 on the first Thursday of June in the year after an order expires. The county recorder 66 shall electronically send notice to the email address listed on the affidavit six months 67 before the date the address 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 recorder at the time of recording a certified 70 copy of the court order. The county recorder shall ensure that the eligible document is 71 shielded within ten business days. 72 11. The provisions of this section shall not prohibit access to county recorder 73 records by: 74 (1) Parties to an instrument; 75 (2) A law enforcement officer in performance of official duties when the officer 76 provides a subpoena, court order, or search warrant for the records; 77 (3) A title insurer, title insurance agent, or an escrow agent licensed by the 78 department of commerce and insurance; 79 (4) Licensed attorneys; 80 (5) A person with a notarized release from the party to the instrument or a court 81 order; or 82 (6) County, state, or local government offices with authority to access the records 83 under state or local law, rule, or regulation. 84 12. No county recorder shall be liable for any damages under this section, 85 provided the recorder made a good faith effort to comply with the provisions of this 86 section. No county recorder shall be liable for the release of any eligible document or 87 any data from any eligible document that was released or accessed prior to the 88 document being shielded under this section. 89 13. The provisions of this section shall take effect June 1, 2026. 67.5137. 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean: HB 1296 4
2 (1) "Eligible documents", documents or instruments that are maintained by and 3 located in the office of the county clerk, collector, assessor, treasurer, or auditor that are 4 accessed electronically; 5 (2) "Eligible person", any current or former law enforcement officer or judge; 6 (3) "Judge", any municipal, associate, circuit, or appellate judge; 7 (4) "Law enforcement officer", any commissioned peace officer with the power 8 to arrest 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 prohibition against the general public's electronic access to 13 eligible documents and access to residential address and phone number information 14 contained in indexes for eligible documents. 15 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any county an eligible person 16 may request that the general public be prohibited from accessing that person's 17 residential address and telephone number that are contained in instruments, writings, 18 and information maintained by the county clerk under chapter 51, collector under 19 chapter 52, assessor under chapter 53, treasurer under chapter 54, or auditor under 20 chapter 55. 21 3. An eligible person may request this action by filing an affidavit that states the 22 person's full legal name and residential address on an application form developed by the 23 office of the state courts administrator in agreement with an association of counties, an 24 organization of peace officers, and the motor vehicle and driver licensing division of the 25 department of revenue. 26 4. If an eligible person is also requesting that the general public be prohibited 27 from accessing records maintained by the county collector under section 59.670, the 28 eligible person may combine the request with the request filed under subsection 3 of this 29 section by filing one affidavit. The affidavit and subsequent action by the appropriate 30 authorities shall meet the requirements 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 presiding judge in the county where the eligible person resides. The presiding judge 33 shall review the affidavit to determine whether the action requested shall be granted. If 34 the presiding judge concludes that the affidavit meets the requirements of this section 35 and that the action requested by the affiant will reduce a danger to the life or safety of 36 the affiant or another person, the presiding 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 record shielding shall expire five years from the date of issuance. An HB 1296 5
39 eligible person may submit an affidavit for a new court order to continue record 40 shielding upon expiration of a previous 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 more than ten business days after the date on which the county officer receives 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 address listed in the original 50 affidavit; 51 (3) The cause for the original affidavit no longer exists; or 52 (4) Temporary access to the instrument or document is needed. 53 8. The county officer shall remove shielding for all records under this section on 54 the first Thursday of June in the year after an order expires. The county officer may 55 electronically send notice to the email address listed on the affidavit six months before 56 the date the address shielding will terminate. 57 9. The provisions of this section shall not prohibit access to county records by: 58 (1) Parties to an instrument; 59 (2) A law enforcement officer in performance of official duties when the officer 60 provides a subpoena, court order, or search warrant for the records; 61 (3) Licensed attorneys; 62 (4) A person with a notarized release from the party to the instrument or a court 63 order; or 64 (5) County, state, or local government offices with authority to access the records 65 under state or local law, rule, or regulation. 66 10. No county officer shall be liable for any damages under this section, provided 67 the county officer made a good faith effort to comply with the provisions of this section. 68 No county officer shall be liable for the release of any eligible document or any data 69 from any eligible document that was released or accessed prior to the document being 70 shielded under this section. 71 11. The provisions of this section shall take effect June 1, 2026. ✔
Statutes affected: