Skip to Main Content

Missouri Government and Statistics: Missouri Government

Guide to Finding Any Missouri State Publication

If the publication is less than five years old, check the Internet for full text.  Otherwise,

If the publication was issued before 2000,

  • Check the MERLIN catalog first for library holdings.
  • For publications dated 1878-1933, check the Missouri Historical Documents Browser This finding aid will help you see whether we have certain 19th- and early 20th-century editions of major serial publications (for example, annual reports) from Missouri state agencies. This resource is still a work in progress and not yet complete for years before 1878.
  • If you still cannot find what you need, ask us.

Popular Missouri State Publications

Official Manual of the State of Missouri (Blue Books)

This biennial source contains descriptions of state agencies, biographies of state officials and legislators, listLinks to Official Manual of the State of MOs of county officials and of state employees.  Annual pay for every state employee is listed. The Blue Book also shows election returns, some census statistics, and information on political parties. The most current edition is on the web.   The library's collection of paper editions dates to the late 1880s.

Note: A bibliography of blue books for other states is provided in Chapter 2 of the book State Government Reference Publications: An Annotated Bibliography by David W. Parish (c1981).

 

Missouri State Financial Reports

State Budget Full text Print edition in library
State Tax Expenditure Report Full text Print edition in library
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Full text  Print edition in library 
Appropriations to support agencies, programs, etc. See "Appropriations" in Session Laws

 

Laws and Regulations, etc.

The Missouri Revised Statutes show all laws passed by the Missouri legislature that were in effect as of the book's publication date. If you wish to see a law the way it looked when it was originally passed (that is, unchanged by later amendments), use Session Laws volumes instead. If you are unable to find your topic discussed in the statutes, you may be dealing with an area covered by state regulations instead. If that is the case, check the Missouri Code of State Regulations. Finally, some legal requirements are handled in the state Constitution (see below.)

 

Missouri Constitution

Current Missouri Constitution (revised May 2015.)  Missouri has operated under four successive constitutions, enacted in 1820, 1865, 1875 and 1945.  The constitution is continually revised through amendments, and the text of amendments can be found in Session Laws.  Find the full Constitution printed in editions of the Missouri Revised Statutes.

Missouri Local Governments

Statistics:

Laws, ordinances, archival records:

Newspapers:

Books:

Aerial Photos:

Historic Maps:

  • Plat Books - Historic maps showing land use, roads, placement of buildings, landowner names, etc..
  • Sanborn maps - Historic maps showing great detail about buildings on city blocks.
  • Maps of Missouri dating to territorial days, digitized by the St. Louis Public Library.