ST. LOUIS — Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced Thursday that he has issued a subpoena to embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her office as part of an ongoing audit of the city.
Fitzpatrick's office said in a release that the subpoena was issued after Gardner's office failed to meet "multiple deadlines for document request." The subpoenaed documents include bank and credit card statements, policy guidelines and other expenditure information, the release said. The state auditor's office said it originally requested the documents on Jan. 23 with a deadline of Feb. 14.
"We've tried to work with the Circuit Attorney's Office but my patience has run out," Fitzpatrick said in the release. "Serious questions have been raised about the performance of Kim Gardner's office, and the fact that she refuses to produce basic financial documents for review is extremely concerning. The people of St. Louis, through their Board of Aldermen, have requested this audit, so when Ms. Gardner continues to evade her responsibility to produce critical documents as requested, she isn't just refusing to cooperate with the State Auditor's office, she's also refusing to cooperate with her own constituents."
Gardner's office provided the following statement:
"The CAO has cooperated with all requests from the auditor. Today’s subpoena was a surprise, however, our office is committed to comply with all requests related to its audit of the office."
The state auditor's office has been auditing St. Louis for the past four years at the request of the St. Louis Board of Alderman. The office said it has released more than 20 reports in the process of the audit and expects to finish the audit this year.
The subpoena comes as Gardner's office is under increasing scrutiny over its handling of cases after a teenage volleyball player was critically injured by a crash caused by a suspect who was supposed to be on house arrest. Gardner has taken a defensive stance amid accusations that failures in her office kept the crash suspect out on bond, maintaining that her office was not negligent, and accusing a judge of denying her office's requests to keep him behind bars.
Gardner is also the subject of a "petition of quo warranto" filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who wants to remove her from office.
Earlier this week, Judge John Torbitzky told Gardner she has two weeks to respond to the allegations made against her by the attorney general. Bailey filed another motion setting a deposition date for Gardner on April 14.
