Rule 83.04.Transfer by This Court After Opinion by Court of Appeals.

Rule 83.04 gives a party a direct path to the Supreme Court after the court of appeals has issued an opinion, memorandum decision, written order, or dismissal order. The rule opens by describing what this transfer is not: it is an extraordinary remedy, not part of the standard review process, a distinction the rule draws specifically for purposes of federal habeas corpus review.

The grounds for transfer track Rule 83.02 — the general interest or importance of a question, or the need to reexamine existing law — plus an additional ground available here: that the court of appeals' opinion is contrary to a previous decision of an appellate court in Missouri. As with the other transfer provisions, no response to the application is filed unless the Supreme Court asks for one, and a denial cannot be reconsidered by motion.

The rule changed in a material way effective January 1, 2025. Before that date, a party could apply under Rule 83.04 only after first applying to the court of appeals under Rule 83.02 and having that application denied, with the fifteen-day clock running from the date of denial. Under the current version, a party no longer has to apply under Rule 83.02 first, and the filing window is now the later of two dates: fifteen days after the court of appeals denies transfer or overrules a Rule 84.17 post-disposition motion, or thirty days after the court of appeals files its opinion, memorandum decision, written order, or dismissal order. That change gives parties a direct route to the Supreme Court and a more forgiving deadline calculation than the earlier version allowed.

Both versions preserve the same safety valve for late filings: an application can be filed out of time on a showing of good cause, but never once the court of appeals has issued a mandate that remains in effect.