Mo. Rev. Stat. § 513.170: Plaintiff may move for judgment on bond, when.

If the condition of the bond be broken, and the execution returned unsatisfied, the defendant and his sureties shall be deemed to have notice of the facts, and the plaintiff, without further notice, may, on the first or any subsequent day of the return term of the execution, move the court for judgment on the bond against the defendant and his sureties, or any of them; or the plaintiff may, at his option, bring suit upon the bond.