St. Louis County is the county that surrounds the City of St. Louis. The city is not part of it. If you were hurt anywhere from Florissant to Fenton, from Chesterfield to Jennings, the courthouse, the police agency and the hospital that matter to your case are in the county. So is our office. We are at 7733 Forsyth Blvd, Suite 1100, in Clayton, two blocks from the St. Louis County Courthouse.

Where Will My Case Be Filed?

In the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, the 21st Judicial Circuit, at 105 South Central Avenue in Clayton. Missouri’s venue statute says that when a person is first injured in Missouri, a tort case is filed in the county where the injury happened (RSMo 508.010.4). A crash on I-270 in Hazelwood or a fall in a Chesterfield store is a St. Louis County case.

It does not matter where the other driver lives. The location of the injury controls. One exception: if the defendant is from another state and the claim is worth more than $75,000, the defense may be able to move the case to federal court (28 U.S.C. 1332 and 1441).

The court is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and its website has a Find My Case tool. Most of an injury case happens on paper, long before any trial: the petition, written questions, document requests and depositions. For us, a hearing in Clayton is a short walk.

Your case is filed two blocks from our front door.

Which Police Department Has My Crash Report?

It depends on exactly where the crash happened. St. Louis County has 88 municipalities, and the county’s own budget documents say those cities have primary responsibility for public safety inside their limits. Many run their own police departments. Unincorporated areas fall under county government.

  • Unincorporated county, or a city that contracts with the county for policing: the St. Louis County Police Department. Its Central Police Records Unit is at 7900 Forsyth Blvd in Clayton. Its request handout lists a $6.50 fee.
  • A city with its own department: that city’s police department holds the report.
  • A crash worked by a state trooper: the Missouri State Highway Patrol, whose Troop C covers St. Louis County. Wait 10 days, then request it. The fee is $6.00.

Asking the wrong agency costs time you do not have. We confirm which agency responded, request the report and check it for errors before an insurer relies on it.

Where Are People Hurt in St. Louis County Taken?

Missouri designates trauma centers by level. As of December 2023, two of them were in St. Louis County. Mercy Hospital St. Louis, on New Ballas Road in Creve Coeur, is a Level I trauma center, the highest level. Mercy Hospital South is a Level II trauma center. The region’s other adult Level I centers, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, are in the city.

Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country, St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield and SSM Health DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton hold state stroke or heart attack designations but were not on the state’s December 2023 trauma list. Which hospital treated you matters for one practical reason: we request records from every provider, and each has its own process.

Where Do the Serious Crashes Happen?

Missouri State Highway Patrol figures show 97 people died in traffic crashes in St. Louis County in 2022. The East-West Gateway Council of Governments analyzed MoDOT crash records for 2018 through 2022 and counted 415 fatal crashes and 2,506 serious-injury crashes in the county, more than any other county in the region.

  • 27 percent of the county’s fatal and serious-injury crashes were on interstates. County interstates accounted for about 40 percent of those crashes on the region’s entire interstate system.
  • 72 percent were on urban streets, and 71 percent of those happened at intersections.
  • Speeding was a factor in 29 percent. Failure to yield was a factor in 24 percent.

The same plan ranks the region’s most dangerous stretches. In St. Louis County, the interstate list is dominated by I-270 and I-70 through north county, with I-170 near Overland, I-55 in Lemay and I-270 in Kirkwood also on it. The county’s top non-interstate corridors are Lewis and Clark Boulevard, Halls Ferry Road, West Florissant Avenue and Chambers Road. The corridor list on this page gives the crash counts for each.

Several of the worst I-270 segments sit inside MoDOT’s I-270 North design-build project, which the plan lists as completed in 2024. New lanes and ramps change how a crash there is investigated. Construction-era signs and lane shifts may be gone, so photographs and MoDOT project records can matter.

The intersections

The plan also names the county’s five most hazardous intersections: Lewis and Clark Boulevard at Jennings Station Road, West Florissant Avenue at Chambers Road, Lucas and Hunt Road at West Florissant Avenue, Halls Ferry Road at Jennings Station Road, and Lewis and Clark Boulevard at Cyr Road. Intersection crashes turn on signal timing, sight lines and who had the right of way, which is why we look for camera footage and signal records early.

Can I Bring a Claim Against St. Louis County or a City?

Sometimes. Missouri keeps sovereign immunity for public entities, including the county and its cities, but waives it in two situations (RSMo 537.600). The first is an injury caused by a public employee driving a vehicle on the job, such as a police car, a public works truck or a city bus. The second is a dangerous condition of public property, where the government created the condition or knew about it in time to fix it.

These claims have limits. For 2026, damages against a public entity are capped at $532,148 per person and $3,547,658 per occurrence, and punitive damages are not allowed (RSMo 537.610). Cities of the third and fourth class require written notice to the mayor within 90 days of an injury caused by a defective street, sidewalk or bridge (RSMo 77.600 and 79.480). We check the city’s classification the day you call.

A road-defect claim against a city can be lost in 90 days. Call before the notice window closes.

What if the Other Driver Has Too Little Insurance?

Missouri requires drivers to carry only $25,000 in bodily injury coverage for one person (RSMo 303.190). A single trauma admission after a serious crash can use that up. Every Missouri auto policy must also include uninsured motorist coverage at the state minimums (RSMo 379.203), and many households carry underinsured coverage without knowing it.

So the at-fault driver’s policy is rarely the only one that matters. We read your policy, the other driver’s policy, any employer’s commercial policy and any household policy that might apply before an adjuster tells you what your claim is worth.

How Long Do I Have?

Most injury lawsuits must be filed within five years (RSMo 516.120). Wrongful death claims must be filed within three years (RSMo 537.100). If the crash happened across the river in Illinois, the deadline is two years (735 ILCS 5/13-202). The evidence goes faster than any of these. Business cameras along roads like Lindbergh or West Florissant overwrite footage, and wrecked cars are sold for salvage.

What Happens After You Call?

  • We talk with you, free and confidentially, about what happened and what you need now.
  • We identify the police agency, request the crash report and send preservation letters for video and vehicle data.
  • We gather records from the hospitals and doctors who treated you.
  • We identify every insurance policy that may apply, including your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
  • We check whether a city, the county or a public employee is involved, and if so, whether a notice deadline is running.
  • We meet at our Clayton office, or by phone or video if you cannot travel.

Every case is different, and no lawyer can tell you the outcome on the first call. We can tell you which deadline applies and what has to happen this week. Call The Injury Counsel at (314) 727-7220.