Missouri Doesn’t Bond Anything the Same Way Twice

No, and this is a common citation error. RSMo Section 301.560 sets the standard $50,000 corporate surety bond every Missouri dealer files with the Department of Revenue on Form 4682. The higher $100,000 bond applies only if a dealer enters written agreements to deliver a vehicle to a buyer before transferring the certificate of ownership -- and that requirement lives in a different statute entirely: RSMo Section 301.210, subsection 5(5). The two bonds serve different purposes and are filed under different code sections, even though several directory sites collapse them into one citation.

Almost all municipal, with one exception. Missouri's Division of Professional Registration runs a genuine Statewide Electrical Contractor license through its Office of Statewide Electrical Contractors -- but it requires $500,000 in liability insurance, not a surety bond, and a political subdivision can still require its own bond on top of the state license if the subdivision's local ordinance calls for one. Every other trade -- plumbing, mechanical, general building, HVAC -- has no state license or state bond at all. Kansas City, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and Springfield each run independent bonded-licensing systems, and a proposed Statewide Mechanical Contractors Licensing Act has been reintroduced in the legislature in multiple recent sessions without passing -- so mechanical contractors should not assume it is current law.

RSMo Section 301.192 only lets the Department of Revenue accept a bond in place of a title if your vehicle is both seven model years old or older AND worth $3,000 or less under Kelley Blue Book, NADA, or two dealer appraisals. Fail either test -- a 2021 model that is only 5 years old, or a 10-year-old truck appraised at $6,000 -- and Missouri will not sell you a bonded title at any price. The only path left is a circuit court order under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 87, which is a several-month declaratory judgment process, not a bond purchase. Check both numbers before you shop for a bond.

Missouri deliberately left it open. RSMo Section 473.157 tells every personal representative to “execute and file a bond... in an amount fixed by the judge or clerk” -- no 1.5x or 2x multiplier the way Illinois and Kansas run theirs. In practice, circuit probate divisions size the bond against the personal property passing through the estate (cash, securities, vehicles), not real estate the heirs already hold. RSMo Section 473.160 then supplies four separate ways to avoid or reduce that bond: a will's no-bond clause, depositing assets with a court-approved depositary, a corporate representative holding a Missouri Director of Finance certificate, or a judge's good-cause waiver.

No -- and that surprises people who find it while searching for Missouri bonds. The $75,000 freight broker bond (BMC-84) is a federal requirement under 49 CFR Section 387.307, filed with FMCSA, and it applies identically whether your business is registered in Missouri, Texas, or any other state. Missouri itself imposes no separate state-level broker bond. It shows up on this page because Missouri-based brokers still need it to operate legally -- not because Missouri wrote the rule.

Most states tier dealer bonds by volume, inventory value, or dealer classification. Missouri does not. RSMo Section 301.560 sets one flat $50,000 bond for new franchise dealers, used dealers, wholesale dealers, powersport dealers, trailer dealers, and boat dealers alike -- the only adjustment is the separate $100,000 delivery bond under RSMo Section 301.210(5)(5) for dealers using delayed-delivery agreements. If you are cross-shopping Missouri against a neighboring state's tiered system, budget for the flat number and move on; there is no tier calculation to run.