Criminal Law

How to look up your or another's criminal or civil court case in Missouri online

4 Steps to recover your stolen identity.

If you have a gun of any type: Shot gun, Rifle, hand gun, etc. and it comes up missing, the law says, you have a legal obligation to report the gun missing IMMEDIATELY! That same day that you...

Criminal defense lawyers provide legal service to people accused of breaking a law (whether state or federal). Defense attorneys perform many tasks relating to a case--from research to...

There are dozens of reasons why you may want to find out if someone has been in jail. Employers want to know their employees' criminal histories, neighbors are interested in learning the...

The Internet has made retrieving copies of old criminal records easier and less expensive than in the past. The National Archives and Records Administration provides one website where you can find...

Reporting fraud, from embezzlement to identity theft, is important both because it can help you as a victim recover personal loses and because it can prevent other people from falling victim to a...

Manslaughter essentially means causing the death of another person without malice aforethought, such as can happen in a bar fight that gets out of hand. If you want to learn about possible...

If you need to submit an amendment to a police report, you should first find the original report so that you can give the report number to the officer who is taking the amended report. You can...

There are many legitimate reasons for trying to find inmates in jails and prisons. Government bodies keep meticulous records on all persons being incarcerated, and those records are frequently...

It is not difficult to find your police record (or criminal record) in the state you are currently living in. Sometimes, if you have moved from state to state (and even from city to city within a...

If you have been threatened, verbally or physically, you should file a report with the police. If you are in danger of imminent harm, you should call 911 immediately. If you have been threatened...

Many people who get arrested for drug crimes feel the charges are unwarranted and wish to fight them. Although it is often extremely difficult, there are many cases in which drug charges are...

Title 18, section 4 of the United States Code makes it a crime to fail to report a federal crime "as soon as possible." Failing to report a federal crime is a separate crime called "misprision of...

If you are raped, you should report it as soon as you can get to a telephone. Reporting the rape allows police to attempt to apprehend the perpetrator, so that he cannot attack other victims or...

Community halfway houses for ex-offenders are important resources in the reintegration of these individuals. The key to keeping the doors to community halfway houses open today and into the future...

In United States law, a felony is the more serious of two basic classifications of crimes that can be committed, the other being a misdemeanor. The two are distinguished by their punishments; a...

It is important to properly handle your probation to stay out of jail. Probation is your opportunity to prove to the legal system that you are responsible and not a danger to yourself or the...

Having foreknowledge of a person's criminal intent to commit fraud is a serious position in which to find yourself. In fact, depending on local laws and the severity of the crime, failure to...

The police have many self defense tools for their use. One of the most common devices they use is the baton. The police baton has a history of hundreds of years, and has been used in dozens of...

There are many reasons why someone would search for a prisoner in the federal prison system---a friend or relative is incarcerated or perhaps you're the victim of a crime. Finding a federal...

Thousands of drunk drivers die in vehicle related accidents each year. For decades now, patrol officers have been carrying various models of breath testing devices to use if it is suspected...

Since the mid-1980s, the national strategy for preventing drug abuse has shifted away from tougher law enforcement measures to public education campaigns, beginning with Nancy Reagan's "Say No to...

A warrant is a formal written order, called a writ that is issued to law enforcement by a judge. Warrants allow law enforcement agents to put aside the rights of the individual for the purposes of...

Checking for warrants through your police department or the local sheriff’s department is a great way to find the most up-to-date information, but you run the risk of being arrested if an active...

Preventing police brutality is a serious, ongoing goal in America. It is difficult to balance laws and procedures designed to help police officers do their job effectively with laws protecting...

Criminal records are available to the public, but on a more limited basis than other court records. County and municipal courts will have records of criminal charges and convictions made in those...

Retribution in the criminal justice system refers to the idea that offenders should be punished for committing crimes when they freely violate existing social rules. Retribution would not support...

Despite laws placing some limitations on where registered child sex offenders reside, unless you are moving into a neighborhood directly next to a school or a park, there is a chance that such an...

DNA analysis, or DNA fingerprinting, is a forensic test used to determine whether a suspect's DNA is present at a crime scene.

Your FBI record is a record of information held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with fingerprint information taken during arrests, during applications for federal jobs, in...

A public defender, colloquially known as a court-appointed attorney or lawyer, is an attorney who is employed by the state government to represent defendants in criminal matters. Court-appointed...

A public defender is an attorney appointed by the court to represent an indigent client in a criminal case. There are three different systems courts use to assign and appoint a public defender....

If you are serving a term of probation, you might be interested in relocating. Perhaps you were offered a new job in another state and you might wonder how to change probation locations. Although...

Probation is a common sentence given to keep non-violent offenders out of overcrowded jails and prisons. They are allowed to follow a program of rehabilitation and restoration as active members of...

If you are arrested, you are typically provided with a copy of your arrest record explaining why you were arrested and the facts surrounding the incident. Arrest records are often littered with...

Search warrants are documents signed by judges that authorize police to search for objects at a location during a specific time frame. These warrants are obtained by convincing a judge that there...

Now that almost anyone can easily access the Internet, and with the proliferation of public records on the Internet, it is very easy to find outstanding arrest warrants for anyone. The most...

Criminal records are a history of an individual's criminal background. They can divulge a lot about an individual's character. Many people now seek these records before extending employment,...

An FBI criminal record (also known as an identification record or rap sheet), relates to fingerprinting during arrests, and in some cases, military service, immigration, naturalization or...

A police badge represents more than a symbol of authority; it conveys a message that the officer wearing the badge is of great moral character, trustworthy and noble. Living the life of a police...

Federal and state laws against falsifying names, numbers and checks prevent employees, and outside criminals, from using payroll check fraud to get money. Commonly used schemes to take money from...

Dual nationality, also known as dual citizenship, is the practice of applying for and maintaining citizenship in two different countries. In the United States, American citizens are free to apply...

Expunging a misdemeanor takes it off of your record so that it is no longer visible to employers. It can also relieve a mental and emotional burden so that you can move on with your life.

The first thing you must understand is the military has hot crime periods and cool crime periods. World War II was a soft crime period but the post war era was a hot crime era. Pre Vietnam was...

Wondering how to find out if someone was arrested? Online arrest records are available for free. Here is a step by step guide on how to search public arrest records for free.

There are a number of reasons why you may need to conduct a county jail inmate search. You may need to reach a person who is incarcerated or you may be curious if someone that you know is...

Want to expunge a felony? In most states, felonies can be expunged if you meet certain requirements. Having a felony expunged can open up many social and job opportunities for you. Here is a step...

Probation may be ordered instead of jail or prison time in some felony cases. If you have been sentenced to complete felony probation, you are probably aware that there is a set limit of time in...