Terms Used In Missouri Laws 487.120

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.

In the event that there is an immediate need to hear a case falling outside the exclusive original jurisdiction of the family court, and no other judge of the circuit is available to hear the matter, the presiding judge may assign a judge of the family court division of the proper venue to hear such matter, subject to split venue and other provisions of law.