Understanding Felonies in Missouri

If you’ve just been charged with a felony, the first thing you want to know is how bad it can get. Here’s the short version, straight from the Missouri statutes.

What Counts as a Felony?

In Missouri, a felony is a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, under the custody of the Department of Corrections. That covers everything from murder, rape, and robbery to burglary, drug trafficking, and white-collar crimes like embezzlement or fraud.

How Much Time Are We Talking?

Missouri sorts felonies into five classes, from A (the worst) to E. Here’s the prison range for each under RSMo 558.011:

• Class A: 10 to 30 years, or life
• Class B: 5 to 15 years
• Class C: 3 to 10 years
• Class D: up to 7 years
• Class E: up to 4 years

Death and life without parole are reserved for first-degree murder, which sits outside the A–E classes.

What a Felony Costs You Besides Jail

The sentence ends. The record doesn’t.

• Guns: A Missouri felony conviction makes it a crime to possess a firearm (RSMo 571.070), and federal law says the same.
• Voting: You can’t vote while you’re serving time behind bars.
• Jobs and housing: Background checks turn up felonies, and plenty of employers and landlords stop reading right there.
• Repeat offenses: Under Missouri’s persistent offender law (RSMo 558.016), prior felonies can push a new charge into a higher sentencing range.

Some convictions can be expunged later, but not all. See Exceptions to Expungement.

The Statutes

If you want to read the law yourself: RSMo 556.016 defines a felony, RSMo 558.011 sets the prison ranges, and RSMo 556.036 sets the deadline for charging, which is generally three years for most felonies.

A felony charge isn’t a felony conviction. Charges get reduced, amended, and dismissed. Call before you talk to anyone else about your case. The consult is free.

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