Supreme Court of Missouri

The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court of the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 by Article V of the first state constitution, more than a year before Missouri was admitted to the Union, and it is housed on West High Street in Jefferson City. Under the state constitution it has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over five kinds of cases: the validity of a federal statute or treaty, the validity of a Missouri statute or constitutional provision, the state revenue laws, challenges to a statewide elected official right to hold office, and imposition of the death penalty. Other appeals go first to the Missouri Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court may take a case by transfer when a question of general interest is involved. It also supervises the lower state courts with the help of the Office of State Courts Administrator, issues rules of practice and procedure, licenses attorneys and disciplines lawyers and judges.