Missouri Laws 351.609 – Records possessed by corporations providing certain services to the public, ..
1. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall mean:
(1) “Adverse result”, danger to the life or physical safety of an individual, a flight from prosecution, the destruction of or tampering with evidence, the intimidation of potential witnesses, or serious jeopardy to an investigation or undue delay of a trial that occurs as a result of the notification of a subpoena or search warrant;
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 351.609
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Articles of incorporation: includes the original articles of incorporation and all amendments thereto, and includes articles of merger or consolidation. See Missouri Laws 351.015
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Foreign corporation: means a corporation for profit organized under laws other than the laws of this state. See Missouri Laws 351.015
- Person: includes , without limitation, an individual, a foreign or domestic corporation whether not for profit or for profit, a partnership, a limited liability company, an unincorporated society or association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other entity. See Missouri Laws 351.015
- Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- United States: includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(2) “Electronic communication services” and “remote computing services”, the same meaning as provided by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act in Chapter 121 (commencing with Section 2701) of Part I of Title 18 of the United States Code Annotated, as amended. This section shall not apply to corporations that do not provide electronic communication services or remote computing services to the general public;
(3) “Foreign corporation”, the same meaning as defined in section 351.015, and in addition, those corporations organized under the laws of the United States government;
(4) “Missouri corporation”, any corporation governed by the general and business corporation law of Missouri under the provisions of this chapter that files its articles of incorporation with the Missouri secretary of state and is issued a certificate of incorporation under section 351.060;
(5) “Properly served”, a subpoena or search warrant that has been delivered by hand, or in a manner reasonably allowing for proof of delivery by United States mail, overnight delivery service, or facsimile to any officer of a foreign corporation or its general manager in this state, or if the corporation is a bank to a cashier or an assistant cashier, or to any natural person designated by the foreign corporation as an agent for the service of process, or any person named in the latest certificate of the corporate agent if the corporation has designated such a corporate agent. A copy of the statement and designation, or a copy of the latest statement filed and certified by the secretary of state is sufficient evidence of the appointment of an agent for the service of process.
2. The provisions of this section shall apply to any subpoena or search warrant issued to search for records that are in the actual or constructive possession of a foreign corporation that provides electronic communication services or remote computing services to the general public, where those records would reveal the identity of the customers using the service, data stored by, or on behalf of, the customer, the customer’s usage of those services, the recipient or destination of communications sent to or from those customers, or the content of those communications.
3. When properly served with a subpoena or search warrant issued by a Missouri court, a foreign corporation shall provide to the peace officer to whom the subpoena or search warrant was issued all records sought under the subpoena or search warrant within five business days of receipt, including any records maintained or located outside the state.
4. Where the peace officer to whom a subpoena or search warrant was issued makes a showing and the issuing judge finds that failure to produce records within five business days will cause an adverse result, the subpoena or search warrant may require production of records within less than five business days. A court may reasonably extend the time required for production of the records upon finding that the foreign corporation has shown good cause for that extension and that an extension of time would not cause an adverse result.
5. A foreign corporation seeking to quash the subpoena or search warrant shall seek relief from the court that issued the subpoena or search warrant within the time required for production of records under this section. The issuing court shall hear and decide that motion no later than five court days after the motion is filed.
6. The foreign corporation shall verify the authenticity of records that it produces by providing a verified affidavit. Such records shall be admissible as evidence.
7. A Missouri corporation that provides electronic communication services or remote computing services to the general public, when served with a subpoena or search warrant issued by another state to produce records that reveal the identity of the customers using those services, data stored by, or on behalf of, the customer, the customer’s usage of those services, the recipient or destination of communications sent to or from those customers, or the content of those communications, shall produce those records as if the subpoena or search warrant was issued by a court of this state.
8. No cause of action shall lie against any foreign corporation or Missouri corporation subject to this section, its officers, employees, agents, or other specified persons for providing records, information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with the terms of a subpoena or search warrant subject to this section.