Section 10.2 Jurisdiction

• Library: App Ct Prac 2015 Supp

II. (§10.2) Jurisdiction

Under Mo. Const. art. V, § 3, the Supreme Court of Missouri has exclusive appellate jurisdiction for all cases involving:

· the validity of a treaty or statute of the United States;

· a statute or provision of the Constitution of Missouri;

· the construction of Missouri revenue laws;

· the title of any state office; and

· the death penalty.

Otherwise, appellate jurisdiction rests in the Missouri Court of Appeals. Thus, most criminal appeals will be filed in the appropriate district of the Missouri Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court normally hears only those cases involving the death penalty, the validity of a United States treaty or statute, or the validity of a Missouri statute or constitutional provision. This does not include cases in which the challenge is based on the application, rather than the construction, of the treaty, statute, or constitutional provision. See State v. Higgins, 592 S.W.2d 151 (Mo. banc 1979).

If the Supreme Court of Missouri does not have exclusive appellate jurisdiction, it may still hear the case if it is ordered transferred to the Court by the court of appeals or the Supreme Court itself, either before or after the court of appeals has rendered an opinion. Rule 83; Mo. Const. art. V, § 10.

If a cause has been erroneously appealed to or transferred...