Rule 51.12.Failure of Clerk to Transmit, or Loss of, Record – Proceedings.

Rule 51.12 answers a practical worry that follows from Rules 51.09 and 51.10: what if the clerk’s transmission goes wrong? Papers get misplaced, files get lost, mail goes astray. This rule makes clear that a clerk’s failure to transmit the record, or the outright loss of it, does not end the case. The parties can furnish copies and file them instead, and the action continues.

Effective July 1, 2026, the rule’s text will update to match Missouri’s move toward electronic case files. The current version speaks of the clerk failing to transmit the “papers or transcript.” The amended version instead speaks of failing to transmit the “electronic court file.” The underlying protection stays the same either way — loss or non-transmission of the record is not fatal to the case — but the language will catch up to the fact that the record being lost or delayed is now typically an electronic file and not a paper one.

This rule works as a safety net alongside Rule 51.13, which addresses a different problem: a court’s power to undo a change of venue order before the record reaches the new court.