Rule 51.05.Change of Judge--Procedure.

Rule 51.05 is Missouri’s peremptory change-of-judge rule: a party need not show bias or any other reason to remove the assigned judge from a civil action. The application needs no verification and no stated cause. The rule does carve out an exception for certain family-law-adjacent proceedings — probation or judicial parole revocation, and motions to modify custody, support, or maintenance under chapter 452 — treating them as part of the original case instead of independent actions, unless a different judge has been designated to rule on the motion.

Timing works on two tracks. The application must be filed within 60 days of service of process or 30 days after the trial judge is designated, whichever period is longer, and if the judge is designated less than 30 days before trial, the party must file before making any appearance before that judge. Intervenors get 30 days from intervening or from the judge’s designation, whichever is later, but never more than 180 days from the designation regardless.

As with the venue rules, parties are grouped into classes — plaintiffs, defendants, third-party plaintiffs and defendants, and intervenors — and each class gets one change of judge under this rule, though a party can still seek a later change for cause. Once a timely application is presented, the judge must promptly grant it. The case then goes to a judge the parties agree on, if that judge accepts it; otherwise the disqualified judge notifies the presiding judge, who assigns a replacement (or asks the Supreme Court of Missouri for one) unless the presiding judge is also disqualified, in which case local court rules govern the reassignment. If the case later moves to a different county in the same circuit, the newly assigned judge stays on it.