ST. LOUIS, MO – September 7, 2026 (STL.News) — A St. Louis jury has found a repeat sexual offender to be a Sexually Violent Predator under Missouri law, resulting in his civil commitment to the Missouri Department of Mental Health for control, care and treatment.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced September 4 that the office’s Sexually Violent Predator Unit secured the civil commitment of Herrell Birts following a jury trial in the City of St. Louis.
The jury determined that Birts met Missouri’s legal requirements for classification as a Sexually Violent Predator, commonly referred to as an SVP. On September 1, 2026, Birts was ordered committed to the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
The proceeding was a civil commitment case, not a new criminal prosecution. Missouri’s SVP process is designed to determine whether certain previously convicted sexual offenders meet statutory requirements allowing them to remain securely confined for treatment because of the risk that they could engage in future acts of predatory sexual violence.
Missouri Attorney General announces commitment.
Hanaway characterized the outcome as an important public-safety measure for Missouri communities.
“This commitment ensures a dangerous repeat offender is securely confined and no longer able to threaten Missouri communities,” Hanaway said in announcing the case.
The attorney general said her office remains committed to protecting the public and credited members of the SVP Unit for their work in the case.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, its Sexually Violent Predator Unit pursues civil commitments involving sexual offenders who have previously been convicted of sexually violent offenses and who meet additional requirements under Missouri law.
Classification as an SVP does not result merely from a previous sex-offense conviction. The civil commitment process involves additional legal and psychological considerations concerning the individual and the risk of future predatory sexual violence.
Birts has convictions dating back decades.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Birts has an extensive criminal history involving both sexual and nonsexual offenses spanning more than two decades.
The state reported that Birts was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in Minnesota in 2001.
After relocating to Missouri, Birts was convicted in 2009 of multiple sexual misconduct offenses in the City of St. Louis involving assaults against women, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Birts subsequently returned to Minnesota, where another criminal sexual conduct conviction followed in 2015 after an incident involving a female victim.
His history did not end there.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, after Birts returned to Missouri, he was charged in the City of St. Louis with the attempted rape of a family member. He ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse.
The Attorney General’s Office also reported that Birts has numerous nonsexual convictions dating to the early 1990s. Those convictions include assault, trespass, and robbery, as well as multiple domestic assault offenses involving women.
That lengthy history became part of the state’s case as it relates to Birts’ civil commitment under Missouri’s Sexually Violent Predator law.
Psychologist testifies during St. Louis trial.
Mental-health evidence also played a significant role in the proceeding.
According to the AGeneral’s Office, an expert forensic psychologist testified during the trial that Birts suffers from Personality Change Due to Head Trauma and Schizophrenia.
The psychological testimony was presented as the jury considered whether Birts met the legal requirements necessary for an SVP finding.
Under the description provided by the Attorney General’s Office, its SVP Unit seeks civil commitment for certain previously convicted sexual offenders who suffer from a mental abnormality that makes them more likely than not to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence again if they are not confined in a secure facility.
After considering the case, the St. Louis jury found that Birts met the applicable criteria.
On September 1, Birts was ordered committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health for care, control, and treatment.
What civil commitment means
An important distinction in the Birts case is the difference between criminal incarceration and civil commitment.
Birts was not being prosecuted in this proceeding for a newly alleged sexual assault. Instead, the state pursued a legal process intended to determine whether his previous offenses, mental condition, and risk of future predatory sexual offenses met Missouri’s requirements for civil commitment.
The distinction is significant.
A criminal case generally determines whether a defendant committed a particular criminal offense and, following conviction, what punishment should be imposed.
An SVP proceeding addresses a different question: whether an individual who has previously committed qualifying sexual offenses satisfies the statutory criteria for continued secure confinement for control, care and treatment.
The jury’s September 1 determination resulted in Birts being placed in the custody of the Department of Mental Health rather than being sentenced to another term of imprisonment for a newly adjudicated crime.
The process is therefore both a mental-health and public-safety mechanism within Missouri law.
Missouri maintains a specialized SVP Unit.
The Birts case was handled by the Missouri Attorney General’s specialized Sexually Violent Predator Unit.
The unit represents the state in proceedings seeking the civil commitment of individuals who satisfy Missouri’s statutory definition of a sexually violent predator. The Attorney General’s Office has announced several SVP commitment cases during 2026, demonstrating that the Birts proceeding is part of a broader statewide enforcement effort.
Other commitments announced by the office this year have involved cases in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Jackson County and elsewhere in Missouri.
In the Birts case, Assistant Attorneys General Ted Bruce and Regan Lourenco tried the matter for the state.
They were supported by Paralegal Rebecca Sullivan and Investigator Carla Ramshead, according to the General Attorney General’s Office.
The state credited the attorneys and support staff for ensuring the jury’s decision.
The jury’s decision follows an extensive history.
The Birts case illustrates why SVP proceedings are legally different from ordinary criminal cases.
His history, as described by the Attorney General’s Office, stretches across multiple states and decades.
The state identified a Minnesota criminal sexual conduct conviction in 2001, multiple St. Louis sexual misconduct convictions in 2009, another Minnesota criminal sexual conduct conviction in 2015, and a later Missouri case in which he pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse after initially being charged with attempted rape of a family member.
His record also includes nonsexual offenses dating to the 1990s.
However, previous convictions by themselves were not the sole issue before the St. Louis jury. The proceeding also involved expert psychological testimony and the statutory requirements governing whether an individual may be classified as a Sexually Violent Predator.
The jury ultimately sided with the state’s position.
Commitment was intended to protect the public. The Attorney General’s Office presented the outcome as both a public-safety victory and an example of the specialized work conducted by its attorneys.
Hanaway emphasized protecting Missouri communities, influencing the jury’s decision.
The commitment means Birts will remain under the control and care of the Missouri Department of Mental Health rather than being released into the community after the proceedings described by the state.
The case also demonstrates the separation between Missouri’s criminal justice and civil commitment systems when dealing with certain repeat sexual offenders.
Criminal courts punish people for crimes, while Missouri’s SVP framework provides an additional civil process for determining whether certain convicted offenders meet the stringent criteria established for secure commitment based on their mental condition and risk of future predatory sexual violence.
In Birts’ case, a St. Louis jury determined that those requirements were met.
The resulting September 1 order committed him to the custody of the Department of Mental Health for care, control and treatment.
The Attorney General’s Office publicly announced the result three days later, describing the case as another effort by its Sexually Violent Predator Unit to prevent individuals determined by the courts to present a continuing danger from returning to Missouri communities.
Congratulations and great work!
Source: General Attorney General’s Office, September 4, 2026.
