Search warrants, how issued - search and seizure - procedure - arrests - ...
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 311.810
in effect311.810. Search warrants, how issued — search and seizure — procedure — arrests — disposition of perishable products. — 1. The attorney general of the state of Missouri at the direction of the governor, or the prosecuting attorney of any county, or the supervisor of liquor control, or any assistant deputy or inspector appointed by the supervisor of liquor control, is hereby empowered to file in the circuit court an application for a search warrant, which application shall be presented to a circuit or associate circuit judge and shall be by petition setting forth substantially the facts upon which the same is based, describing the place to be searched and the thing or things to be seized as nearly as may be, which petition shall be verified by the oath of the officer filing the same.
2. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court in which said petition is filed, either from the facts set forth in such petition, if supported by the affidavit of a competent witness to the facts set forth therein, or from evidence heard thereon, that there is probable cause to believe that intoxicating liquor is being unlawfully manufactured, sold, stored or kept in any building, structure, motor vehicle or other conveyance, or at any place described in such petition, within such county or transported, as by the law of this state defined, contrary to the provisions of any such law, or that thereat or therein is being used or kept any still, doubler, worm, worm tub, mash, mash tub, fermenting tub, vessel, fixture or equipment, or any part or parts thereof used or fit for use in the unlawful manufacture or production of intoxicating liquor, it shall be the duty of such court to issue or cause to be issued a search warrant thereon, directed to the sheriff or other officer authorized by law to serve such process in this state, which search warrant shall substantially recite the facts set forth in such petition, and it shall thereupon be the duty of the officer executing such search warrant forthwith to enter any such building, structure, place, motor vehicle or other conveyance, either in the daytime or nighttime, by force if necessary, and to remove therefrom any intoxicating liquor, malt, mash and all grain, grain products, fruit or fruit products found therein or thereat which have reached such a stage of fermentation as to be unfit for any use save in the unlawful manufacture of intoxicating liquor; and to seize and remove therefrom any intoxicating liquor, still, doubler, worm, worm tub, mash, mash tub, fermenting tub, vessel, fixture or equipment, or any part or parts thereof, used or fit for use in the unlawful manufacture of intoxicating liquor, and all grain, grain products, sugar syrup, hops, raisins and other fruit or fruit products used or fit for use in the unlawful manufacture of intoxicating liquor, which have not so fermented as to be useless for any other purpose than in the manufacture or production of intoxicating liquor, and to hold such property until all prosecutions arising out of such search and seizure shall be ended and determined. All intoxicating liquor unlawfully manufactured, stored, kept, sold, transported or otherwise disposed of, and the containers thereof and all equipment used or fit for use in the manufacture or production of the same, including all grain or other materials used, in the unlawful manufacture of intoxicating liquor, and which are found at or about any still or outfit for the unlawful making or manufacture of intoxicating liquor, are hereby declared contraband, and no right of property shall be or exist in any person or persons, firm, or corporation owning, furnishing or possessing any such property, liquor, material or equipment; but all such intoxicating liquors, property, articles and things, shall be sold upon an order of the court and in the manner provided in this chapter and the proceeds thereof shall be applied on the payment of any fine and costs lawfully assessed against any person or persons convicted of the unlawful manufacture, production, transportation, sale, gift, storing, or possession of intoxicating liquor, or for any other unlawful disposition thereof in any such building, structure, motor vehicle or other conveyance, at any such place or on the premises thereof, or applied on the payment of any fine or costs of any person so convicted of keeping therein or thereat any still, doubler, worm, worm tub, mash, mash tub, fermenting tub, vessel, fixture or equipment, or any part or parts thereof used or fit for use in the unlawful manufacture or production of intoxicating liquor, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, and all such property shall likewise be liable for the costs of making any search and seizure in case no person or persons shall be found in charge or control of any such property or claiming the same; provided, that all persons engaged in the work of unlawfully manufacturing intoxicating liquors in any building, structure, motor vehicle or other conveyance, or at any place as defined in this chapter, or of keeping, storing or selling intoxicating liquor in violation of this law or of any of the laws of this state, or assisting in any way in such unlawful manufacture, production, keeping, storing, selling or transporting same, and all persons in possession or control, whether owners or not, of any still, doubler, worm, worm tub, mash, mash tub, fermenting tub, vessel, fixture or equipment used or fit for use in the unlawful manufacture or production of intoxicating liquor, or in possession or control of any grain, grain products, syrup, sugar, hops, raisins, or other fruit or fruit products, being used in the unlawful manufacture or unlawful production of intoxicating liquor, shall be deemed equally guilty of a violation of this law; provided further, that nothing in this chapter shall be so construed as to prevent any officer whose duty it is to make arrests from arresting, with or without warrant, any person or persons found violating any of the provisions of this law or from seizing or holding, as the case may be, any of the intoxicating liquor so found, including any liquor in process of fermentation or distillation, or any of the equipment, articles or materials, being in use or fit for use, in the process of unlawfully manufacturing intoxicating liquor as herein specified; however, in the case of a misdemeanor or a violation of a municipal or county ordinance, no physical arrest shall be made of any licensee who was not on the licensed premises at the time the violation occurred but a summons for later appearance may be issued. It is hereby expressly made the duty of the sheriffs and their deputies within their respective counties, and of marshals, chiefs of police and policemen in cities, towns and villages, and of all other officials whose duty it is or shall be to make arrests, to diligently suppress any violation of this law, and to this end such officers are hereby authorized and directed to arrest, with or without a warrant, any person or persons found violating any such provisions; and, if arrested without a warrant, then such officer shall immediately report the same to the prosecuting attorney of the county, and file the necessary complaint thereon. It shall be equally the duty of any officer to seize and hold without first obtaining a search warrant, any intoxicating liquor, still, doubler, worm, worm tub, mash, mash tub, fermenting tub, vessel, fixture or equipment, or any part or parts thereof, which he may find in use or fit for use in the unlawful manufacture of intoxicating liquor and to report same immediately to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which such liquor, articles and equipment may be found; provided further, that any officer executing a search warrant as provided in this chapter shall forthwith make his return thereon to the court issuing said search warrant of the manner and date of his execution thereof, showing what, if anything, was seized and held by such search, together with the name of the owner or owners, if known, of the things seized, and if not known, then the name or names of the person or persons appearing to be in charge or control thereof, and shall attach to said return as a part thereof an accurate list or inventory of the article and things so seized and in case of the seizure of any such articles, things or equipment, or intoxicating liquor which said officer may have found in use or fit for use without the aid of a search warrant as herein provided, he shall immediately file a list of the things so seized with the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the same were found, and shall hold the things so seized for disposition in accordance with the provisions of this law; and provided further, that all such articles, products and things declared in this section to be contraband, and which shall be seized by any officer and which shall be of such perishable nature as not to be susceptible of preservation until the determination of any prosecution arising out of seizure, shall be sold or otherwise disposed of as provided in this chapter by an order of the court issuing such search warrant, and the proceeds of such sale shall be held and applied as in this law providing.
(RSMo 1939 § 4916, A.L. 1945 p. 1043, A.L. 1978 H.B. 1634, A.L. 1987 H.B. 520)
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=311.810Fetched: 10/17/2026