EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 305
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR WASHINGTON.
0848S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 570.095, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the
offense of filing false documents, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 570.095, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 570.095, 2
to read as follows:3
570.095. 1. A person commits the offense of filing 1
false documents if: 2
(1) With the intent to defraud, deceive, harass, 3
alarm, or negatively impact financially, or in such a manner 4
reasonably calculated to deceive, defraud, harass, a larm, or 5
negatively impact financially, he or she files, causes to be 6
filed or recorded, or attempts to file or record, creates, 7
uses as genuine, transfers or has transferred, presents, or 8
prepares with knowledge or belief that it will be filed, 9
presented, recorded, or transferred to the secretary of 10
state or the secretary's designee, to the recorder of deeds 11
of any county or city not within a county or the recorder's 12
designee, to any municipal, county, district, or state 13
government entity, divisio n, agency, or office, or to any 14
credit bureau or financial institution any of the following 15
types of documents: 16
(a) Common law lien; 17
(b) Uniform commercial code filing or record; 18 SB 305 2
(c) Real property recording; 19
(d) Financing statement; 20
(e) Contract; 21
(f) Warranty, special, or quitclaim deed; 22
(g) Quiet title claim or action; 23
(h) Deed in lieu of foreclosure; 24
(i) Legal affidavit; 25
(j) Legal process; 26
(k) Legal summons; 27
(l) Bills and due bills; 28
(m) Criminal charging documents or materially false 29
criminal charging documents; 30
(n) Any other document not stated in this subdivision 31
that is related to real property; or 32
(o) Any state, county, district, federal, municipal, 33
credit bureau, or financial institution form or document; and 34
(2) Such document listed under subdivision (1) of this 35
subsection contains materially false information; is 36
fraudulent; is a forgery, as defined under section 570.090; 37
lacks the consent of all p arties listed in a document that 38
requires mutual consent; or is invalid under Missouri law. 39
2. Filing false documents under this section is a 40
class [D] C felony for the first offense except the 41
following circumstances shall be a class [C] B felony: 42
(1) The defendant has been previously found guilty or 43
pleaded guilty to a violation of this section; 44
(2) The victim or named party in the matter: 45
(a) Is an official elected to municipal, county, 46
district, federal, or statewide office; 47
(b) Is an official appointed to municipal, county, 48
district, federal, or statewide office; or 49 SB 305 3
(c) Is an employee of an official elected or appointed 50
to municipal, county, district, federal, or statewide office; 51
(3) The victim or named party in the matter is a judge 52
or magistrate of: 53
(a) Any court or division of the court in this or any 54
other state or an employee thereof; or 55
(b) Any court system of the United States or is an 56
employee thereof; 57
(4) The victim or named party in the matter is a full - 58
time, part-time, or reserve or auxiliary peace officer, as 59
defined under section 590.010, who is licensed in this state 60
or any other state; 61
(5) The victim or named party in the matter is a full - 62
time, part-time, or volunteer firefighter in this state or 63
any other state; 64
(6) The victim or named party in the matter is an 65
officer of federal job class 1811 who is empowered to 66
enforce United States laws; 67
(7) The victim or named party in the matter is a law 68
enforcement officer of the United States as defined under 5 69
U.S.C. Section 8401(17)(A) or (D); 70
(8) The victim or named party in the matter is an 71
employee of any law enforcement or legal prosecution agency 72
in this state, any other state, or the Unit ed States; 73
(9) The victim or named party in the matter is an 74
employee of a federal agency that has agents or officers of 75
job class 1811 who are empowered to enforce United States 76
laws or is an employee of a federal agency that has law 77
enforcement officers as defined under 5 U.S.C. Section 78
8401(17)(A) or (D); or 79 SB 305 4
(10) The victim or named party in the matter is an 80
officer of the railroad police as defined under section 81
388.600. 82
3. For a penalty enhancement as described under 83
subsection 2 of this section to apply, the occupation of the 84
victim or named party shall be material to the subject 85
matter of the document or documents filed or the relief 86
sought by the document or documents filed, and the 87
occupation of the victim or named part y shall be materially 88
connected to the apparent reason that the victim has been 89
named, victimized, or involved. For purposes of subsection 90
2 of this section and this subsection, a person who has 91
retired or resigned from any agency, institution, or 92
occupation listed under subsection 2 of this section shall 93
be considered the same as a person who remains in employment 94
and shall also include the following family members of a 95
person listed under subdivisions (2) to (9) of subsection 2 96
of this section: 97
(1) Such person's spouse; 98
(2) Such person or such person's spouse's ancestor or 99
descendant by blood or adoption; or 100
(3) Such person's stepchild while the marriage 101
creating that relationship exists. 102
4. Any person who pleads guilty or is found guilty 103
under subsections 1 to 3 of this section shall be ordered by 104
the court to make full restitution to any person or entity 105
that has sustained actual losses or costs as a result of the 106
actions of the defendants. Such restitution shall n ot be 107
paid in lieu of jail or prison time but rather in addition 108
to any jail or prison time imposed by the court. 109
5. (1) Nothing in this section shall limit the power 110
of the state to investigate, charge, or punish any person 111 SB 305 5
for any conduct that constitutes a crime by any other 112
statute of this state or the United States. 113
(2) No receiving entity shall be required under this 114
section to retain the filing or record for prosecution under 115
this section. A filing or record being rejected by the 116
receiving entity shall not be used as an affirmative defense. 117
6. (1) Any agency of the state, a county, or a city 118
not within a county that is responsible for or receives 119
document filings or records, including county recorders of 120
deeds and the secretary of state's office, shall, by January 121
1, 2019, impose a system in which the documents that have 122
been submitted to the receiving agency, or those filings 123
rejected by the secretary of state under its legal 124
authority, are logged or noted in a ledg er, spreadsheet, or 125
similar recording method if the filing or recording officer 126
or employee believes the filings or records appear to be 127
fraudulent or contain suspicious language. The receiving 128
agency shall make noted documents available for review by : 129
(a) The jurisdictional prosecuting or circuit attorney 130
or such attorney's designee; 131
(b) The county sheriff or the sheriff's designee; 132
(c) The police chief of a county or city not within a 133
county or such chief's designee; or 134
(d) A commissioned peace officer as defined under 135
section 590.010. 136
Review of such documents is permissible for the agent or 137
agencies under this subdivision without the need of a grand 138
jury subpoena or court order. No fees or monetary charges 139
shall be levied on the investigative agents or agencies for 140
review of documents noted in the ledger or spreadsheet. The 141
ledger or spreadsheet and its contents shall be retained by 142 SB 305 6
the agency that controls entries into such ledger or 143
spreadsheet for a minimum of th ree years from the earliest 144
entry listed in the ledger or spreadsheet. 145
(2) The receiving entity shall, upon receipt of a 146
filing or record that has been noted as a suspicious filing 147
or record, notify the chief law enforcement officer or such 148
officer's designee of the county and the prosecutor or the 149
prosecutor's designee of the county of the filing's or 150
record's existence. Such notification shall be made within 151
two business days of the filing or record having been 152
received. Notification may be accomplished via email or via 153
paper memorandum. 154
(3) No agency receiving the filing or record shall be 155
required under this section to notify the person conducting 156
the filing or record that the filing or record is entered as 157
a logged or noted fil ing or record. 158
(4) Reviews to ensure compliance with the provisions 159
of this section shall be the responsibility of any 160
commissioned peace officer. Findings of noncompliance shall 161
be reported to the jurisdictional prosecuting or circuit 162
attorney or such attorney's designee by any commissioned 163
peace officer who has probable cause to believe that the 164
noncompliance has taken place purposely, knowingly, 165
recklessly, or with criminal negligence, as described under 166
section 562.016. 167
7. To petition for a judicial review of a filing or 168
record that is believed to be fraudulent, false, misleading, 169
forged, or contains materially false information, a 170
petitioner may file a probable cause statement that 171
delineates the basis for the belief that the fi ling or 172
record is materially false, contains materially false 173
information, is a forgery, is fraudulent, or is misleading. 174 SB 305 7
This probable cause statement shall be filed in the 175
associate or circuit court of the county in which the 176
original filing or rec ord was transferred, received, or 177
recorded. 178
8. A filed petition under this section shall have an 179
initial hearing date within twenty business days of the date 180
the petition is filed with the court. A court ruling of 181
invalid shall be evidence that the original filing or record 182
was not accurate, true, or correct. A court ruling of 183
invalid shall be retained or recorded at the original 184
receiving entity. The receiving entity shall waive all 185
filing or recording fees associated with the filing or 186
recording of the court ruling document in this subsection. 187
Such ruling may be forwarded to credit bureaus or other 188
institutions at the request of the petitioner via motion to 189
the applicable court at no additional cost to the petitioner. 190
9. If a filing or record is deemed invalid, court 191
costs and fees are the responsibility of the party who 192
originally initiated the filing or record. If the filing or 193
record is deemed valid, no court costs or fees, in addition 194
to standard filing fees, shall be as sessed. 195