Severing Venue and Personal Jurisdiction in Missouri

The concepts of venue and jurisdiction carry independent and severable meanings. "Venue" means the place where a case is to be tried, while "jurisdiction" speaks to the power of the court to hear and determine a case In Missouri, a "unique melding" of the concepts developed. A line of cases commingling venue and personal jurisdiction yielded strange and often unduly harsh results.' In State ex rel. DePaul Health Center v. Mummert,6 the Missouri Supreme Court attempted to sever venue and jurisdiction, and finally restore some common sense and predictability to sixty plus years of confusion.