Legal Question in Criminal Law in Missouri

Re: Trespassing

First of all. I would be interested to know what exactly you refer to as "family". Do these people you are complaining about have any legal right to be on the property or do they claim to have a legal right? If not, then you could report the trespass and the stealing and the destruction of property to your local law enforcement authorities and they in turn would decide whether to take any action. The police or sheriff's department have considerable discretion and may elect not to arrest anyone, but at least they could write up a report which you could then use for insurance purposes.Or, the police or sheriff could approach the prosecuting attorney who also has a great deal of discretion and who may also decline to take any action. Finally, if you know who is trespassing and who is causing damge, and you can prove it (neighbor's testimony might be enough), you could file a civil lawsuit agianst the people and try to obtain a money judgment against them. A question I would want answered before taking this type of action, would be "How are you going to collect any money judgment if you obtain one?" Keep in mind that there are statutes of limitation which might prevent you from filing suit or actually from prevailing in a lawsuit unless you file the suit within the time allowed by law. I hope that this response has been helpful and I wish you the best of luck.