About the Clay County Circuit Court
Clay County is the Seventh Judicial Circuit. Missouri runs 46 judicial circuits, and the Seventh covers only Clay County. That is unusual for a Missouri circuit, since most circuits cover two or more counties. The single-county setup keeps the bench, the clerk, the prosecutor, and the sheriff on one small downtown campus on South Water Street in Liberty. The Seventh Judicial Circuit Court page lists nine divisions handling traffic, probate, criminal, child support, and civil cases.
The Circuit Court is a court of general jurisdiction. It hears civil cases of any dollar amount, all felony criminal cases, family and domestic relations matters, probate, juvenile cases, civil commitments, and tax and election disputes. Associate Circuit divisions inside the same court hear lower-dollar civil cases, misdemeanors, traffic, small claims, preliminary felony hearings, and several other assigned matters. Probate is a division of the Circuit Court, not a separate county probate court.
Clay County Circuit Court
James S. Rooney Justice Center
11 South Water Street
Liberty, MO 64068
Civil 816-407-3850
Traffic 816-407-3870
Mon-Fri 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
R. Kenneth Elliott Children's Justice Center
351 East Kansas
Liberty, MO 64068
Juvenile and family court services
North entrance
Clay County Circuit Court Divisions
The court runs nine divisions out of one downtown campus. The first three are general circuit divisions with seated judges; the rest are department divisions that share the bench across cases. Divisions split work by case type, not by a numbered-court system like Texas uses.
| Division | Judge / Officer | Subject matter | Phone / email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Division 1 | Judge Shane T. Alexander, Presiding Judge | Felony criminal, some circuit civil, grand jury, all four treatment courts | 816-407-3910 / div1@circuit7.net |
| Division 2 | Judge Timothy J. Flook | Civil docket, pretrial conferences, probation violations, criminal docket | 816-407-3920 / div2@circuit7.net |
| Division 3 | Judge Alisha O'Hara | Domestic violence, parenting court, domestic relations motions, bench trials | 816-407-3930 / div3@circuit7.net |
| Civil Department | Circuit Clerk | Circuit Civil over $25,000, Associate Civil under $25,000, family, small claims | 816-407-3850 |
| Criminal Department | Circuit Clerk | Felony and misdemeanor case files, closed-record requests | Fax 816-407-3899 |
| Probate Department | Probate Division | Estates, wills, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, civil commitments | See circuit7.net/probate |
| Traffic Department | Circuit Clerk | Tickets from listed agencies and partner cities | 816-407-3870 |
| Child Support | Circuit Clerk | IV-D files, support orders, payment records | See circuit7.net |
| Records Retention | Circuit Clerk | Physical files, microfilm, digitization under COR 8 | See circuit7.net/records |
Source for the screenshot: Seventh Judicial Circuit - Division 1.
The Division 1 page above lists the presiding judge's docket and the four treatment courts that meet in Clay County.
Circuit Court vs Associate Circuit vs Municipal Court
Three trial-court levels handle most public cases in Clay County. The Circuit Court takes the largest matters and all felonies. Associate Circuit divisions inside the same court take the smaller-dollar cases and misdemeanors. Municipal courts in Clay County's cities handle local ordinance and traffic cases that the cities run themselves.
| Circuit Court | Associate Circuit | Municipal Court | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil dollar limit | No upper limit (over $25,000) | Up to $25,000 | City ordinance fines only |
| Small claims | Appeals from Associate | Money judgments up to $5,000 | Not applicable |
| Criminal jurisdiction | Felonies and trials | Misdemeanors, preliminary felony hearings | City ordinance violations |
| Family / probate | Yes | Limited family motions | No |
| Jury trials | Yes | Yes for certain cases | Bench trial; appeal triggers de novo |
| Records portal | Case.net | Case.net | City portal or court office |
City-issued tickets in Clay County are split. The county Traffic Department handles tickets from the Sheriff, the Highway Patrol within Clay County, the Department of Conservation, the State Water Patrol, and the cities of Avondale, Birmingham, Glenaire, Holt, Missouri City, Mosby, Smithville, and Village of Oakwood. Other municipalities run their own courts and take their own tickets.
How a Case Moves Through Clay County
Most case files start at the Circuit Clerk's window and move through one of the nine divisions. Criminal cases follow a probable cause statement and a charging document. Civil cases start with a petition. Probate cases start with an application to open an estate or a petition for guardianship. Each track has its own forms and its own division desk.
Criminal flow: Arrest › First appearance / bond › Charging by indictment, complaint, or information › Arraignment › Pretrial › Trial › Sentencing › Appeal to the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District
Civil flow: Petition filed › Service › Answer › Discovery › Mediation or pretrial › Trial › Judgment › Post-judgment collection or appeal
Probate flow: Application or petition › Notice to heirs / next of kin › Inventory and appraisal › Claims period › Distribution › Final settlement and close
Source for the screenshot: Seventh Judicial Circuit - Criminal Department.
The Criminal Department page above sets out the filing rules, bond instructions, and closed-record routes for Clay County criminal files.
Civil Department
The Civil Department handles three civil tiers. Circuit Civil covers cases over $25,000, including employment discrimination, personal injury, eminent domain, expungement of arrest records, declaratory judgment, and temporary restraining orders. Associate Civil sits under $25,000 and takes rent and possession, Director of Revenue, replevin, foreign judgment, delinquent tax, name change, and collection cases. Small Claims is capped at $5,000 and is money-judgment only; no property recovery is allowed in that track.
Domestic relations matters file here too. The Civil Department lists dissolutions of marriage, paternity, motions to modify, ex partes, child protection orders, adult abuse without stalking, adult abuse stalking, and family access motions. The court holds these files at the Circuit Clerk's office; certified divorce decrees come from the clerk, not the Recorder of Deeds.
Source for the screenshot: Seventh Judicial Circuit - Civil Department.
The Civil Department page above lists the three civil thresholds, case-type categories, and the forms the clerk accepts at the counter.
Probate Division and Traffic Department
The Probate Division of the Circuit Court runs the county's estate and guardianship docket. It opens estates, accepts wills for probate, supervises trusts in litigation, appoints guardians and conservators for incapacitated adults and minors, and handles Chapter 632 civil commitments for mental illness or substance abuse. Probate dockets are public at the case-index level, but mental health files and protected personal data are confidential under RSMo 630.140. The dedicated probate records page covers the filings, fees, and request steps in depth.
The Traffic Department takes tickets the Circuit Court has authority over. The Traffic Department page explains payable and non-payable tickets, pay-by-phone instructions, and in-person payment options. Non-payable tickets include DWI/DUI, driving while revoked or suspended, drug or paraphernalia possession, assault, speeding 26 mph or more over the limit, and any ticket tied to an accident. Those route to a court appearance. For deeper coverage see the traffic court records page.
Source for the screenshot: Seventh Judicial Circuit - Traffic Department.
The page above gives the working list of agencies whose tickets the Clay County court accepts.
Clay County Judges
The Clay County bench has three circuit-division judges plus associate-circuit and family-court judges who carry the rest of the docket. Each circuit division publishes its own schedule.
- Judge Shane T. Alexander, Presiding Judge (Division 1) - Clay County native and Navy veteran. Former assistant prosecutor and chief assistant prosecutor in Clay County. Former municipal judge for Excelsior Springs and former municipal prosecutor for Smithville. Division 1 covers felony criminal, some circuit civil, grand jury, and all four treatment courts.
- Judge Timothy J. Flook (Division 2) - Lifelong Clay County resident, former state representative, and former associate circuit judge. Division 2 page lists weekly docket blocks for civil and criminal matters.
- Judge Alisha O'Hara (Division 3) - Hears domestic violence, parenting court, and domestic relations motions. Division 3 publishes monthly docket times for domestic violence and parenting court plus detailed motion scheduling notes.
Source for the screenshot: Seventh Judicial Circuit - Division 2.
The Division 2 page above shows the weekly docket pattern Clay County litigators plan around.
Treatment and Specialty Courts
Division 1 runs all four of Clay County's treatment courts under Judge Alexander. These programs divert eligible defendants from a standard criminal sentence into a supervised court team that meets weekly. Files stay on the criminal docket, but progress hearings are scheduled separately.
- Adult Substance Abuse Court.
- Veterans Court.
- Mental Health Court.
- DWI Court.
Domestic violence and parenting court meet in Division 3 on the published monthly schedule. Specialty programs are not separate courts on their own dockets; the judge sits in the same room and the clerk indexes the file under the original case number.
Source for the screenshot: Seventh Judicial Circuit - Division 3.
The Division 3 page above publishes the monthly schedule that pro se parents, attorneys, and victim advocates use to plan hearings.
Appeals From the Clay County Circuit Court
Appeals from Clay County trial court cases go to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District in Kansas City. The Western District covers the western half of the state, and Clay County sits inside that footprint. The Missouri Supreme Court hears further appeals where the case meets the court's constitutional or transfer rules.
Missouri Courts published that the Western District Court of Appeals would sit at the Clay County Courthouse, and noted that all three judges on that docket previously served as judges in the Seventh Judicial Circuit and as presiding judges during their Clay County service.
Note: A notice of appeal usually runs ten days from the judgment in Clay County; consult Missouri Courts for the current rule and timeline.
Filings, Forms, and Case.net
Court filings in Clay County route through the Circuit Clerk's department for the case type. Missouri Case.net is the public window into the case index and docket. The court warns that Case.net is provided as a service and is not the certified court record. Court Operating Rule 2 sets the public-access rules, including the public indexes by case number, file date, party name, calendar date, and judgment against.
Forms come from the statewide Missouri Courts forms library plus a small set of local forms posted under each Clay County department. The Civil Department lists adult abuse and stalking petitions, trial de novo, confidential case filing information sheets, small claims petition packets, execution and garnishment forms, parenting plans, motion to proceed as a poor person, interpreter requests, subpoenas, satisfaction of judgment, expungement and correction of arrest records, landlord forms, and name and birth record forms.
Closed criminal record requests use a stricter route. The Circuit Clerk page covers the fax route, the ID rules, and the notarized signature requirement under the Criminal Department's published process.