Callaway County Circuit Clerk
The official Callaway County Circuit Clerk page identifies Megan Morse as Circuit Clerk, lists the office at the Callaway County Justice Center, and confirms Callaway County's role in Missouri's 13th Judicial Circuit with Boone County. This office is the practical local contact for court case files after a public Case.net search does not answer the question.
The Circuit Clerk is not the same as the County Clerk or Recorder of Deeds. In Callaway County, the County Clerk is Ronda Miller and focuses on county-government functions. The Recorder of Deeds is Christine Kleindienst and handles marriage licenses and recorded instruments at the historic courthouse. Court case files, probate filings, divorce cases, criminal cases, civil cases, traffic matters, and municipal cases routed to the county contact path belong with the court system and Circuit Clerk channel.
Callaway County Circuit Clerk
Circuit Clerk: Megan Morse
5 East 2nd Street
Fulton, MO 65251
573-642-0780
The Circuit Clerk page is the official local page for Callaway County court-record access and the 13th Judicial Circuit link.
The page anchors the court-records office at the Justice Center rather than the historic courthouse offices.
Callaway County Clerk Record Roles
Several Callaway County offices use similar names, but they do not hold the same records. The Circuit Clerk handles court case access. The County Clerk handles county commission, election, and local-government records. The Recorder of Deeds handles marriage licenses and recorded documents. The Sheriff's Office handles arrest, incident, jail, video, photo, and evidence-related records through its own custodian process.
| Office | Main Records | Contact Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Clerk | Circuit Court case files, certified court copies, probate, divorce, criminal, civil, traffic, and municipal court questions routed to county court | 573-642-0780 or Justice Center |
| County Clerk | County commission, election, and local-government office records | Room 104, historic courthouse, 573-642-0730 |
| Recorder of Deeds | Marriage licenses, deeds, deeds of trust, releases, plats, surveys, military discharges, tax liens | Historic courthouse, 573-642-0787 |
| Sheriff's records custodian | Incident reports, arrest reports, jail records, photos, videos, and evidence records | 573-592-2455 or sheriff records form |
Request Callaway County Certified Copies
A certified court copy is a clerk-issued copy that verifies the court record as an official copy. Certified copies may be needed for appeals, name changes, benefits, licensing, real estate, estate matters, or other legal uses. The public Case.net record can help identify a case, but it does not replace a certified clerk copy when a receiving agency requires certification.
- Search Case.net first if the case number is not known, using party names, filing dates, or Callaway County filters.
- Write down the exact case number, case type, party names, and document requested.
- Contact the Circuit Clerk at 573-642-0780 or visit the Justice Center to confirm availability and cost.
- State whether a plain copy or certified copy is needed, and ask whether the document is public, restricted, or older paper-file material.
- Follow the clerk's current payment, pickup, mail, or in-person process.
Note: The research file did not publish a Callaway Circuit Clerk court-copy fee table, so the clerk should confirm current copy and certification charges.
Callaway County Request Fields
The research file did not locate a dedicated Circuit Clerk copy-request form with exposed fields. A strong request still follows the same practical pattern: identify the case, state the document, choose the copy type, and give the clerk a way to contact the requester. For law-enforcement records, use the Sheriff's records custodian process instead of a court-copy request.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Recommended | Use the exact Case.net or court case number when known. |
| Party names | Yes | Include plaintiff/defendant, petitioner/respondent, state/defendant, estate, or ward names. |
| Document type | Yes | Example: judgment, decree, docket sheet, letters, order, disposition, or filing. |
| Copy type | Yes | State plain copy or certified copy. |
| Case type | Helpful | Civil, criminal, probate, family, traffic, small claims, or municipal division. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Provide phone, mailing address, or other contact details accepted by the clerk. |
| Payment method | Before fulfillment | Confirm current clerk fees and payment rules before mailing a request. |
Callaway County Clerk Fees
The clearest fee details in the research file came from the Recorder of Deeds and Sheriff's Office, not from a Circuit Clerk copy-fee page. The table below separates published local amounts from court-copy items that must be confirmed. This avoids treating a recorder or sheriff fee as if it were a court fee.
| Item | Amount or Rule |
|---|---|
| Circuit Clerk plain court copy | Confirm with Circuit Clerk |
| Circuit Clerk certified court copy | Confirm with Circuit Clerk |
| Marriage license | $51 through Recorder of Deeds |
| Certified marriage copy | $9 through Recorder of Deeds |
| Recorder real estate copies | $1 per page |
| Sheriff copied page | $0.10 per page |
| Sheriff record custodian research | $25.29 per hour |
| Sheriff evidence custodian research | $31.42 per hour |
Callaway County Case.net Access
Missouri Case.net is the online public case information portal for Missouri circuit courts. The county sheriff homepage links to Missouri Case Net, and the Circuit Clerk page links users toward the 13th Judicial Circuit and Missouri Courts. Case.net is useful for public docket and case information, but it is not the clerk counter. Certified copies, sealed records, older files, and documents not available through the public interface still require the Circuit Clerk.
Common Case.net searches use case number, litigant name, filing date, scheduled hearings and trials, judgment index tools, attorney information, or county/circuit filters. When the portal allows a county or circuit filter, select Callaway County or the 13th Judicial Circuit to avoid broad statewide results. Public records may show case number, court, parties, attorneys when public, docket entries, scheduled hearings, judgments, dispositions, charges, and some financial data.
| Search Option | Best Use |
|---|---|
| Case number | Exact lookup from citation, summons, notice, or prior docket sheet. |
| Litigant name | Party-name search when the case number is unknown. |
| Filing date | Locating recently filed cases in a date range. |
| Scheduled hearings | Checking upcoming court settings and docket activity. |
| County/circuit filter | Narrowing results to Callaway County or the 13th Judicial Circuit. |
County Clerk vs Circuit Clerk
The Callaway County Clerk site identifies Ronda Miller as County Clerk. The county clerk mission focuses on making the office efficient, friendly, accessible, and transparent for local government. That office is at the historic courthouse, 10 East 5th Street, Room 104, Fulton, MO 65251, with phone 573-642-0730, fax 573-642-7181, and email rmiller@callawaycounty.org.
The County Clerk homepage is useful for county-government records, but it should not be confused with the Circuit Clerk's court-file role.
The distinction matters because court users who contact the county clerk for case files may be redirected to the Justice Center.
The County Clerk contact page lists the historic courthouse address, room, phone, fax, and email for Ronda Miller's office.
That contact page supports the local office split between county administration and court case access.
Recorder and Sheriff Channels
The Recorder of Deeds handles marriage licenses and recorded documents. The Sheriff's Office handles arrest, incident, jail, video, photo, and evidence records through a Chapter 610 process. Sheriff's records requests may be made by phone at 573-592-2455, through the form on the sheriff records page, or in person Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Administrative Sergeant Bobbie Rice is named as records custodian in the research file.
For court users, the best rule is to ask which office created or keeps the record. The Missouri Attorney General's Sunshine Law guidance says requests should go to the agency that created or retains the record. That means a court judgment goes to the Circuit Clerk, a marriage license copy goes to the Recorder, a county commission record goes to the County Clerk, and a sheriff incident report goes to the Sheriff's Office.
The county elected officials directory lists the countywide offices, including the Circuit Clerk, Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney, and Recorder.
The directory helps verify which elected office is responsible before a request is sent.
Callaway County Court Questions
Holts Summit's official municipal court page states that, as of January 1, 2022, municipal court is held in Fulton at the Callaway County Justice Center and ticket questions go to Callaway County at 573-642-0780. New Bloomfield's municipal court page lists Judge Sue Crane, uses the Callaway County Courthouse/Associate Circuit Division path, and tells users to call 573-642-0780 for court dates.
Those city pages make the Circuit Clerk contact especially important for traffic and municipal court users. A ticket that began with a city may still route practical questions to the county court phone line. For the court structure and divisions behind those records, see the Callaway County Circuit Court page.