Missouri Laws 545.473 – Cole County, change of venue, procedure
1. Notwithstanding Missouri supreme court rule 32.03, a defendant with a case filed in a county with department of corrections centers with a total average yearly offender population in excess of two thousand persons shall follow the procedure listed in subsections 2 to* 5 of this section in order to obtain a change of venue for misdemeanors or felonies.
2. Upon written application of the defendant, a change of venue may be ordered in any criminal proceeding for the following reasons:
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 545.473
- Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
(1) That the inhabitants of the county are prejudiced against the defendant; or
(2) That the state has an undue influence over the inhabitants of the county.
3. In felony cases, the application must be filed not later than thirty days after arraignment. In misdemeanor cases, the application must be filed not later than ten days before the date set for trial.
4. A copy of the application and a notice of the time when it will be presented to the court shall be served on all parties.
5. The application shall set forth the reason or reasons for change of venue. It need not be verified and shall be signed by the defendant or his attorney.
6. The state may, within five days after the filing of the application for a change of venue, file a denial of the existence of the reason or reasons alleged in the application. Such denial need not be verified. If a denial is filed, the court shall hear evidence and determine the issues. If the issues are determined in favor of the defendant, or if the truth of the grounds alleged is within the knowledge of the court, or if no denial is filed, a change of venue shall be ordered to some other county convenient to the parties and where the reason or reasons do not exist.