St. Louis Prosecutor Misses Resignation Deadline — Missouri AG Forges Ahead With Plan To Oust Her

Kim Gardner, St. Louis Circuit attorney, didn’t make any move to resign before Thursday at noon. Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R.MO) set a Thursday-at-noon deadline. The AG’s office decided to proceed with plans to have her removed by legal means.

Bailey The ultimatum was delivered on Wednesday evening — resign by noon on Thursday or be removed from office — claiming that Gardner had Multiple times, it has failed she was unable to fulfill her sworn duties of a prosecutor, making St. Louis less secure in the process.

When the deadline lapsed on Thursday — with no response from Gardner’s office — Bailey held a brief press conference explaining his prescribed course of action.

WATCH:

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey spoke at a press conference regarding Kim Gardner, St. Louis Circuit attorney
https://t.co/P6CfpQMVvN

— FOX2now (@FOX2now) February 23, 2023

“My office has filed a petition for a quo warranto,” Bailey confirmed the assertion, citing Missouri law’s provision that permits the Attorney General to take action to remove any public official not performing the duties of his or her elected office.

Bailey outlined three reasons for the filing. First, Gardner “has failed to prosecute cases that are pending in her jurisdiction.” This failure, he said, led to justice being put on hold as pending cases were sometimes dismissed if they were not dealt with in a timely manner.

“The second claim is that she has failed to confer and inform victims of the procedural posture and ultimate disposition in criminal cases,” Bailey said that Gardner’s office was legally and morally bound to inform victims of crimes about the status and outcome of their cases.

“Finally, she has neglected her duties by failing to charge new cases referred to her by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,” He concluded. “These three behaviors constituted a continued pattern of failure to discharge her duties in office, and represent neglect under the statutes and warrant removal. At the end of the day, this is about the rule of law, and about justice.”

According to a Report Gardner is expected to host her own news conference at the St. Louis Post Dispatch later in Thursday afternoon.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases