About Virtual Court Sessions

Overview

The virtual court alternative was developed in response to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus to protect the health and safety of our defendants, our staff, and the public by reducing the possible risk of COVID-19 community transmission during in-person court sessions.

Virtual court sessions are not limited to those concerned about COVID-19. Parents with child care needs that make it difficult to attend an in-person session, workers who cannot take a day off work to attend court, people who do not have good transportation arrangements, and others who, for whatever reason, face difficulty in attending an in-person court session, may all use the virtual court alternative.   

How it Works

The St. Louis City Municipal Court is offering online virtual court sessions as an alternative to in-person court sessions that require the defendant’s personal physical appearance in Court at 1520 Market.

Virtual court sessions are conducted using the WebEx meeting application, a method of conducting municipal court sessions that has been approved by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Virtual court sessions offer defendants a way to make court appearances and resolve their eligible municipal court citations online without physically coming to a court session.

Payment of Fines

If the defendant is ordered to pay a fine, the Court also offers online payment arrangements through www.PayitStLouis.com, as well as many other payment methods that allow the defendant to avoid a trip to the court building to pay a fine.   

Citation Types Eligible for Virtual Court

The virtual court alternative is available for:

• All traffic citations
• Metro fare citations
• Earnings tax cases
• Property maintenance and other housing code citations

other kinds of non-traffic citations, may also be assigned to virtual court sessions on a case-by-case basis.