ST. LOUIS — Update: A new judge was appointed on Wednesday to oversee the attorney general’s efforts to remove Kim Gardner from office.
According to online court documents, Judge Thomas N Chapman was appointed to oversee the case.
Chapman is an appeals court judge appointed to the western district of Missouri by Governor Mike Parson in 2018.
Original story:
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has asked for a new judge to oversee the Missouri attorney general's efforts to remove her from office — but the attorney general's office is asking the judge to make one more crucial decision before he is replaced.
Gardner’s attorneys, Jonathan Sternberg and Michael Downey, filed a motion for a change of judge Friday to remove Judge John Torbitzky.
Requesting a change of judge is a right both sides are given, and attorneys do not need to state their reasons for seeking it. Gardner’s motion is a one-sentence document that doesn’t cite any reason for the request.
Appointing a new judge to the case will take time, as the Missouri Supreme Court must appoint the replacement. Once a new judge is appointed, Gardner’s team cannot ask to change that judge, but the attorney general’s office can.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s legal team filed a response to Gardner’s request for a change of judge Saturday, saying Torbitzky already heard arguments about Gardner’s motion to dismiss the attorney general’s lawsuit against her, so he should at least rule on that motion before he is replaced.
Torbitzky will determine whether to grant Bailey’s motion.
It’s unclear what the request will mean for a scheduled series of hearings Torbitzky ordered to take place on the first and third Tuesdays of every month leading up to a trial – should he have determined to move forward with one.