Missouri Laws 589.664 – Disclosure of address, when — notice — limitation on dissemination
1. If an individual is deemed a participant in the address confidentiality program by the secretary of state, no person or entity shall be compelled to disclose the participant’s actual address during the discovery phase of or during a proceeding before a court or other tribunal unless the court or tribunal first finds, on the record, that:
(1) There is a reasonable belief that the address is needed to obtain information or evidence without which the investigation, prosecution, or litigation cannot proceed; and
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 589.664
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- 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.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. 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
(2) There is no other practicable way of obtaining the information or evidence.
2. The court shall first provide the program participant and the secretary notice that address disclosure is sought.
3. The program participant shall have an opportunity to present evidence regarding the potential harm to the safety of the program participant if the address is disclosed. In determining whether to compel disclosure, the court shall consider whether the potential harm to the safety of the participant is outweighed by the interest in disclosure.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no court shall order an individual who has had his or her application to the program accepted by the secretary to disclose his or her actual address or the location of his or her residence without giving the secretary proper notice. The secretary shall have the right to intervene in any civil proceeding in which a court is considering ordering a participant to disclose his or her actual address.
5. Disclosure of a participant’s actual address under this section shall be limited under the terms of the order to ensure that the disclosure and dissemination of the actual address will be no greater than necessary for the purposes of the investigation, prosecution, or litigation.
6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the court or any other tribunal from issuing a protective order to prevent the disclosure of information other than the participant’s actual address that could reasonably lead to the discovery of the program participant’s location.