ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is asking a judge to quash the subpoena the Missouri Attorney General’s Office sent to Saint Louis University’s School of Nursing to find out how much time she is devoting to her degree rather than her office.
Gardner’s legal team is also asking the newly appointed judge overseeing Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s lawsuit to oust her from office to quash all of the documents the previous judge has ordered her to produce, according to court filings submitted Tuesday.
Judge Thomas Chapman has scheduled his first hearing on the matter for Tuesday, May 16.
All of the motions and filings are part of Bailey’s lawsuit to remove Gardner from office immediately. He filed it in February, accusing Gardner of “willfully neglecting her duties” as the city’s top prosecutor.
The Attorney General’s Office then filed subpoenas for Gardner’s academic records at Saint Louis University’s School of Nursing, accusing her of taking classes there instead of carrying out the duty for which she was elected.
"My office has already explained in the amended petition why she needs to be removed; it’s time to ask Kim Gardner about her failure to do her job," Bailey said in a statement. "This is just a last-minute political stunt from the inept circuit attorney as we force her out of office."
Gardner's spokesperson, Allison Hawk, acknowledged in a statement that Gardner is attending classes there but denied it interferes with her official duties.
Bailey wants Gardner’s class schedule.
The original judge assigned to Bailey’s lawsuit, John Torbitzky, ruled there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial and gave Gardner 30 days to produce almost all of the discovery the Attorney General’s Office is seeking. He entered that order on May 2, which puts the deadline for discovery at June 1 – the day Gardner said she plans to resign.
Gardner’s lawyers are likely to file a motion to dismiss the case upon Gardner’s resignation, but Bailey has vowed to continue pursuing evidence against Gardner until that happens.
Gardner doesn’t appear to be backing down either. Her team also filed subpoenas Monday with Bailey and former Assistant Circuit Attorney Natalia Ogurkiewicz for any communications they may have had since Jan. 1.
Ogurkiewicz has been critical and outspoken about her resignation from Gardner’s office, calling it a “toxic work environment,” in which Gardner made it extremely difficult for prosecutors to function.
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