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Where In The World Is The Former St. Louis Circuit Attorney?

The state auditor is pulling out all the stops to find her.

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question-3385451_1280Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick has put out an APB on former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Well, it’s not quite that bad, but Fitzpatrick did issue a press release saying Gardner “remains elusive” and is thwarting his office’s efforts to investigate her time in office following allegations of inappropriate spending.

Fitzpatrick said his office has reached out to her legal representation in an effort to schedule an interview, made repeated daily calls to telephone numbers associated with Gardner, contacted close associates and former coworkers, and made numerous attempts to serve Gardner with a subpoena, all of which have been unsuccessful.

Fitzpatrick said, “This is a pattern of behavior with Kim Gardner, who hasn’t shown a willingness to be transparent or accountable. Without question, she knows our audit is ongoing and that we want to speak with her about her time in office, but she has made no effort to comply with our requests or respond to our inquiries. I hope she will reconsider her decision to ignore the responsibility she has to cooperate with our audit process and come forward to provide answers to us and to the people of St. Louis.”

If you think that’s an aggressive stance for Fitzpatrick to take, you aren’t alone. Adolphus Pruitt, President of St. Louis City NAACP, called out Fitzpatrick’s attack as “unwarranted and unprofessional,” saying, “I question his objectivity at this point in time.” As First Alert 4 reports:

“It gives the impression to people that, for some reason, the former circuit attorney is a wanted criminal,” says Pruitt. “That sort of terminology and language is what you hear from a prosecutor, not an auditor.”

Fitzpatrick says his attempts to reach Gardner have been unsuccessful and wants her to answer questions about inappropriate spending accusations brought to light during an investigation.

“Next thing you know he’s going to try to put her picture up in the post office,” Pruitt says. “It speaks to his intent to produce an audit that is critical to the office regardless of what her response is going to be.”

Pruitt concluded, “Produce the audit. Let’s see it. Put up or shut up.”

But Fitzpatrick has, in turn, blamed Gardner for the delays in producing the audit.

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“Any delay in the release of our audit of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office is directly attributable to Kim Gardner and her unwillingness to be transparent and accountable. We have made numerous good faith efforts to give her the opportunity to come forward and answer our questions about decisions she made while in charge of the office despite her obstruction of the audit for two full years while in office. To not make every effort to get her side of the story would be an enormous disservice to the people of St. Louis, who deserve the answers only she can provide. It’s important to remember the Board of Aldermen requested this audit at the urging of St. Louis residents, who are paying the for the full cost of the audit, including the cost of delays caused by Kim Gardner. We will do everything we can to provide them with a complete picture of how the office was managed while Kim Gardner was in office.”

As the Associated Press reports, during Gardner’s entire time in office, she battled against Republicans in her state:

Gardner, a Democrat first elected in 2016 to become the city’s first Black circuit attorney, resigned in May 2023. She was part of a movement of progressive prosecutors who sought diversion to mental health treatment or drug abuse treatment for low-level crimes, pledged to hold police more accountable, and sought to free inmates who were wrongfully convicted.

She was frequently criticized by Republican leaders who cited low rates of convictions in homicide cases, high office turnover and other concerns. At the time of her resignation, Gardner was the subject of an ouster effort by Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. GOP lawmakers were considering a bill allowing Republican Gov. Mike Parson to appoint a special prosecutor to handle violent crimes, effectively removing the bulk of Gardner’s responsibilities.

Gardner resigned in May 2023 after a judge said her office was a “rudderless ship of chaos.”

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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