What do official court dockets in Jackson County, Missouri, show about Renee Nicole Good's 2023 name‑change filing?
Executive summary
Official Jackson County, Missouri, court records show that a petition to change the name of a person then identified as Renee Macklin was filed in October 2023, listed a Kansas City address, requested the surname Macklin Good (i.e., to become Renee Nicole Macklin Good), and was entered as an uncontested name-change judgment in November 2023 [1] [2] [3] [4]. Public-access systems for Missouri courts such as Case.net provide docket information for cases deemed public, but some records and older filings may require in-courthouse inspection or have limited online detail [5] [6].
1. What the docket entries themselves show
Multiple news organizations report that Jackson County Circuit Court received a name-change petition filed on Oct. 18, 2023, and that the petition listed an address in Kansas City for the petitioner, indicating local residency at the time the documents were filed [1] [2] [3] [7]. Those same reports rely on the county court docket as their source for the filing date, the stated current name (Renee Nicole Macklin), the requested new name (Renee Nicole Macklin Good), and the Kansas City address provided in the petition [1] [2] [3].
2. The petitioner’s stated reason and family details recorded on the filing
News accounts that cite the Jackson County filing state that the petition included a reason for the change—“I want to share a name with my partner”—and listed the petitioner as a mother of three, with ages and locations for the children included in the petition’s text [4]. Those elements are presented in reporting that directly references the courthouse documents rather than speculation, so they reflect what was recorded on the docket or associated filings available to reporters [4].
3. The court’s disposition: uncontested judgment entered
At least one local outlet specifically reports that a judgment approving the uncontested name change was entered on Nov. 21, 2023, indicating the court completed the administrative steps to grant the requested name change without opposition recorded in the docket [4]. Multiple outlets repeat the basic timeline and outcome—filing in mid‑October, court approval in late November—consistent with an uncontested civil name-change procedure in Jackson County [1] [2] [3].
4. What public-access systems show and their limits
Missouri’s Case.net is the statewide automated case management system used to access docket entries, parties, judgments, and other public-court records for courts that have implemented the system; the 16th Circuit (Jackson County) advertises such records access as available via Case.net and local court pages [6]. However, Case.net’s public availability is limited to cases deemed public and to courts on the automation project, and Missouri guidance warns that some documents filed before July 1, 2023, or otherwise restricted materials may require in-person review at courthouse terminals—an important caveat when reconstructing a file from media reports [5] [6].
5. Caveats, alternative readings and limitations of available reporting
Reporting across outlets is consistent on the filing date, requested new name, and Kansas City address, but this synthesis depends on secondary reporting that cites the docket rather than reproducing the full court documents; thus, specifics beyond the name, date, address and apparently uncontested disposition—such as the full text of the petition, any sealed entries, or related filings—are not presented in the cited stories and were not independently reviewed here [1] [2] [3] [4]. Journalists and public records portals concur on the basic outcome, but readers should note that Case.net and Jackson County court interfaces can vary in searchable depth and that some detailed case documents may be omitted from online dockets or require courthouse access to view [5] [6].
6. Why the docket matters to broader reporting and what remains unverified
The docket entries corroborate that the person later identified in news coverage as Renee Nicole Good had a recent, formal name-change proceeding in Jackson County and that the county records linked that proceeding to a Kansas City address and to a granted, uncontested judgment in November 2023—facts that anchor reporting about prior residency and legal name at a specific time [1] [2] [3] [4]. What the public reporting and online docket summaries do not supply in full are copies of the filed petition, any supporting affidavits or objections, or sealed records; confirmation of those finer-grained documents would require direct inspection of the Jackson County case file or certified copies from the court clerk [5] [6].