How can I tell if my handyman is licensed in Missouri?

In Missouri, there is no statewide handyman license to verify. Missouri does not license handymen at the state level. Kansas City and St. Louis may require local business registration. This means "is my handyman licensed" has a different answer here than in states like California or Florida, where every handyman must hold a state license.

What to verify instead: (1) Local jurisdiction. Many Missouri cities and counties require handymen to register or hold a local contractor license. Kansas City, St. Louis, and Springfield typically have local building-department registration requirements. Check the city's building department website.

(2) Business entity status. Even without a trade-specific license, the handyman's business should be registered with the Missouri Secretary of State (https://bsd.sos.mo.gov/). The entity status should be active or in good standing — not dissolved, withdrawn, or administratively revoked.

(3) Public-record history. Court judgments, mechanics' liens, OSHA citations, and BBB complaints are the strongest trust signals when there's no state license to anchor verification. A handyman with multiple recent judgments or an unresolved lien is a hard stop.

Groundcheck (earthmove.io/trust) pulls all three categories in under 90 seconds. For trades without statewide licensing like handymen in Missouri, the public-record verdict is the trust verdict. The contractor is never notified.

Detailed Missouri handyman rules: earthmove.io/trust/license/handyman/missouri.