§ 133.839 Immunity from civil process in certain civil cases

If you get brought to this state to face a criminal charge through extradition, you get some protection from being sued while you're here. Specifically, no one can serve you with civil lawsuit papers if the lawsuit is based on the same facts as the criminal case that brought you here in the first place.

This protection lasts until your criminal case is over. If you're convicted, the protection ends at that point. If you're found not guilty, you still get a reasonable amount of time to travel back to the state you came from before anyone can serve you with civil papers.

The idea behind this rule is fairness. Someone shouldn't have to worry about getting hit with a civil lawsuit the moment they show up to deal with criminal charges, especially when they didn't choose to come to this state on their own. It gives people a chance to handle the criminal matter first, or get home safely, before dealing with a separate civil case tied to the same events.