ST. LOUIS — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson will announce who he will appoint to replace former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner during a press conference outside the Circuit Attorney’s Office at 11 a.m. Friday.
Sources familiar with the selection process told 5 On Your Side the finalists in the running to replace Gardner include 22nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Paula Bryant and Gabe Gore, a partner in the Dowd Bennett law firm.
Parson has invited U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy, 22nd Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Elizabeth Hogan and St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts to the press conference. Missouri Department of Public Safety Director Sandy Karsten and Missouri State Highway Patrol Colonel Eric Olson are also expected to attend.
Whoever comes into the office is expected to remain until next year's election.
There is already a mountain of work waiting for them. Dozens of trials are assigned to prosecutors who no longer work in the office and haven't for months.
The St. Louis Police Department says there are 3,860 cases that officers have sent to the Circuit Attorney's Office going back at least two years on which prosecutors have not made a decision. The cases are almost exclusively misdemeanors and non-violent felonies.
Here is some additional information about the three finalists:
Gabe Gore
Gabe Gore is a member of the Dowd Bennett law firm, which describes him as “an experienced trial lawyer who concentrates on complex civil litigation and white-collar defense. He has tried over 20 cases, including cases involving breach of contract, product liability, misappropriation of trade secrets, securities fraud, breach of trust, employment and property damage claims. His clients include Fortune 500 corporations, corporate executives and high-ranking government officials.”
Gore was one of 18 people who submitted applications for the appointment to the governor’s office after Gardner announced she would be resigning June 1. Instead, she resigned unexpectedly Tuesday.
Parson’s senior staff then interviewed five candidates and sent three finalists to Parson.
Before joining Dowd Bennett, Gore clerked for Eastern Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Gibson, served as an assistant U.S. Attorney, an assistant special counsel for the Waco investigation, an associate at Williams & Connolly law firm and a partner at Bryan Cave law firm.
Gore has been tapped by the governor’s office for an appointment in the past. Following the unrest in Ferguson, then-Gov. Jay Nixon appointed him to serve on the Ferguson Commission.
He currently serves on the Missouri State University Board of Governors and the Forest Park Forever Board. He was also a founding board member of KIPP St. Louis Public Charter Schools.
In 2020, the St. Louis Business Journal profiled Gore.
"As a member of the Ferguson Commission, formed to study and make recommendations resolving issues surrounding the events that occurred in Ferguson in 2014, he chaired the criminal justice subcommittee that recommended municipal court reform. Supported by the Missouri Supreme Court, the reforms helped banish laws that unfairly fined and jailed hundreds of area residents on traffic offenses while generating millions of dollars in revenue for municipalities.
The subcommittee also recommended the state appoint a special prosecutor in all police-involved shootings, a topic often raised in local political campaigns since that time," according to the story.
Judge Paula Bryant
Activists who have supported Gardner in the past are calling the governor’s office to pick Judge Paula Bryant as the interim circuit attorney.
Local defense attorney Jerryl Christmas said Parson should pick Bryant because she has experience as a prosecutor.
“We must have someone the community can trust and be able to hit the ground running,” Christmas said.
Former Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Bryant to the 22nd Judicial Circuit in 2016. She had previously served as an associate circuit judge.
During her time in the St. Louis Circuit, Bryant has been assigned to family, criminal, minor civil and general trial matters.
She went to the University of Missouri-St. Louis for her bachelor’s degree and to Saint Louis University School of Law for her law degree.
She is a member of the State Judicial Records Committee and has developed court programs, including a GPS pre-trial monitoring program.
Bryant is affiliated with the National Bar Association, Women Lawyers of Greater St. Louis and the Mound City Bar Association, according to the Missouri Bar’s website yourmissourijudges.org.
Editor's note: A third finalist, Judge Michael Noble, was notified Thursday night by Gov. Parson's office that he was not selected to serve as interim circuit attorney, according to sources familiar with the selection process.