§ 131.345 Motion for change of venue; when made

If you're facing a criminal charge in circuit court, you or your lawyer can ask the judge to move your trial to a different location. This request is called a "motion for change of venue." You can only make this request once the case reaches the point where there's an actual disagreement about the facts that need to be decided at trial.

In simple terms, this means both sides have to be past the early paperwork stage of the case. There has to be a real dispute about what happened, something a judge or jury still needs to sort out. Once the case gets to that point, either side can ask to move the trial somewhere else.

This rule matters most in cases that get a lot of local attention, like ones covered heavily by the news. If someone worries that people in the area already have strong opinions about the case, they can ask to move the trial to a place where a jury might be more fair and unbiased.