Moberly does not have a municipal court. It had one until late 2017. The city abolished it, and every Moberly ordinance violation — speeding ticket, dog at large, nuisance property, occupancy violation — is now heard at the Randolph County Courthouse in Huntsville, not at City Hall.
This matters because most of the internet still has it wrong. Search "Moberly municipal court" and you will find directory sites listing an address at 204 N. Clark Street and a phone number of 660-263-3914, presented as though the court is open. That was the real municipal court address and phone. It has been out of service since November 27, 2017. Do not drive there, and do not call that number expecting to reach a court.
Where your Moberly ticket actually goes
Randolph County Courthouse
372 Highway JJ, Huntsville, MO 65259
Main number 844-277-6555 plus the extension
Monday through Friday
Every county office is in this one building. The offices you are most likely to need:
Circuit Clerk — Michelle Chapman
Suite 1A · ext. 400 · 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
michelle.chapman@courts.mo.gov
This is the office that matters most to an ordinary person with a ticket. The Circuit Clerk handles the filing of all criminal cases from traffic violations up to felonies, and collects fines, court costs and restitution. If you do not know what to do next, this is the number to call.
Associate Circuit Judge — James Cooksey
Suite 1D · ext. 400 · 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Associate Division is where Moberly ordinance violations are heard. Judge Cooksey’s division took them over from the city.
Presiding Circuit Judge — Scott Hayes
Suite 1C · ext. 262 · 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Prosecuting Attorney — Stephanie Luntsford
Suite 1G · ext. 600
Randolph County is in Missouri’s 14th Judicial Circuit, which covers Randolph and Howard counties.
How the city got out of the court business
The City Council passed Ordinance No. 9385 on September 18, 2017. It repealed the entire Municipal Court chapter of the city code and replaced it with a chapter titled "Municipal Ordinance Violations." The city asked the Presiding Judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit to accept a transfer of its cases, and the Associate Division took them.
What survives in the code today is one sentence. Section 2-501, "Presiding court":
Violations of this Code and other city ordinances shall be adjudicated in in the associate division of the state Circuit Court, 14th Judicial Circuit.
The doubled "in in" is in the published code, not a typo on our end.
You can read the whole thing yourself. Moberly’s code is public at Municode, currently codified through Ordinance No. 9851, adopted December 2, 2024. There is no municipal court chapter in it. A code-wide search for "city prosecutor" returns nothing.
What it costs
Section 2-502 sets the court costs added to every conviction or guilty plea on a city ordinance. These are on top of whatever fine you are assessed:
Clerk fee — $15.00
Statewide court automation system (RSMo 476.056) — $7.00
Crime victims’ compensation fund (RSMo 595.045) — $7.50
Domestic violence shelter (RSMo 488.607) — $4.00
Sheriff’s retirement fund surcharge — $3.00
Local police training — $2.00
Inmate security fund — $2.00
Peace officer training fund (RSMo 488.5336) — $1.00
That is $41.50 in costs on any conviction, before the fine.
Worth knowing where one of those dollars goes: the $4.00 domestic violence surcharge is collected and disbursed to Safe Passage, a project of the Moberly Regional Health Foundation. Every city ordinance conviction in Moberly puts four dollars into the local shelter.
The fine itself
Section 1-13 is the catch-all. Where a specific ordinance does not set its own penalty, the violation is punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to three months in jail, or both.
Two things in that section people get caught by. Where state law sets a lower cap or a different penalty for a similar offense, the city is held to the lower one. And each day a violation continues is a separate violation — which is how a nuisance or property-maintenance citation that sits unresolved turns into real money.
Paying a traffic ticket without going to court
Moberly’s code still keeps a Traffic Violations Bureau, but it now belongs to the county court rather than the city. Section 40-94 puts the associate division court in charge of establishing it and of setting its hours.
The judge who hears traffic cases decides which offenses can be settled by paying a fine at the bureau instead of appearing, sets the fine schedule for first, second and later offenses, and decides which offenses require you to show up no matter what.
Section 40-95 gives you the choice: pay the fine at the bureau, which is a guilty plea and a waiver of your court appearance, or post bail and plead not guilty and take it to trial.
What we could not confirm: which specific offenses are on the current pay-without-appearing schedule, and what those fines are. Neither the city nor the county publishes that list online. Call the Circuit Clerk at 844-277-6555 ext. 400.
Looking up your case
Missouri’s public case search is Case.net, run by the Office of State Courts Administrator. Because Moberly’s ordinance cases are filed in the Associate Division of the 14th Circuit rather than in a city municipal division, they are state circuit court records. Search by name or case number.
If you cannot find your case, or the ticket you are holding does not show a case number yet, call the Circuit Clerk rather than guessing.
If you cannot afford a lawyer
Whether a public defender is appointed depends on the charge and on whether jail is a possible outcome, and the rules for ordinance violations are not the same as for state criminal charges. Ask the Circuit Clerk’s office how to request appointed counsel in your specific case — 844-277-6555 ext. 400 — and ask before your first setting, not on the day.
Do not miss your court date
Failing to appear is the single most expensive mistake people make with a minor ticket. In Missouri it can produce a warrant, and a failure to appear on a traffic charge is reported to the Department of Revenue, which affects your driving privileges. A $90 speeding ticket becomes a suspended license and a warrant.
If you cannot make a setting, call the Circuit Clerk before the date.
Who to call for what
A ticket, a court date, a fine, a warrant
Randolph County Circuit Clerk, 844-277-6555 ext. 400
A question about the citation itself, or a police report
Moberly Police Department, 300 N. Clark Street, 660-263-0346
A city record, an ordinance, council minutes
City Clerk Shannon Hance, 101 W. Reed Street, 660-269-8705 ext. 2052. Full contacts in our City of Moberly folder.
A legal question about a city ordinance
City Counselor Randall Thompson, 101 W. Reed Street, 660-269-8705 ext. 2062
One more number, for context
Missouri requires every city to file a sworn annual report with the State Auditor disclosing how much of its revenue comes from ordinance and minor traffic violations. Moberly’s filings show what happened when the court closed:
Fiscal year ended 6/30/2018 — own municipal court: yes — $42,366, or 0.60% of general operating revenue
Fiscal year ended 6/30/2019 — own municipal court: no — $28,050, or 0.4%
Fiscal year ended 6/30/2025 — own municipal court: no — $14,701.50, or 0.01467%
Whatever else can be said about closing the court, ticket revenue is no longer a meaningful part of how Moberly funds itself.
Sources: Moberly Code of Ordinances (Municode), Ordinance No. 9385 adopted 9-18-2017, Randolph County department directory, and City of Moberly annual addenda filed with the Missouri State Auditor. Moberly Mainline is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Know something we have wrong, or have a current court schedule? Tell us.
