How do these family law cases actually proceed through the court system. In Missouri, the structure of “family court” will depend from local court to local court. Many big counties have large dedicated family courts. For example, in St. Louis County there is a family court with roughly 10 Judges who exclusively hear family law matters. The family court divisions are all in the same section of the St. Louis Courthouse. St. Louis City and St. Charles County are examples of other counties that have exclusive family court divisions. Many smaller counties do not necessarily dedicate entire divisions or Judges to family court alone. For example, Franklin County only has a handful of Judges. These Judges all hear family law cases, but they also hear other types of cases such as criminal cases.