ST. LOUIS — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s team is in court Tuesday to accuse Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner of neglecting her duties as a prosecutor while she took nursing classes. Gardner just announced that she will be resigning today.
It was the latest salvo in Bailey’s efforts to remove Gardner from her office, which has struggled to keep up with prosecutions of criminal cases in St. Louis after several assistant prosecutors resigned.
Gardner is the city’s first Black prosecutor and a Democrat. Bailey, a Republican, began legal proceedings in February to force her to resign or be removed. He said too many cases, including homicides, are not being prosecuted by an understaffed office.