St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner Resigns Amid Controversy

Lawyers from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office stepped in to handle the daily docket of newly arrested defendants in St. Louis courts on the first day without Kimberly M. Gardner as the top prosecutor. However, many of the problems from Gardner’s tenure remained, including chronic understaffing, delayed trials, and prosecutors regularly failing to turn over evidence and prepare prosecutions on time. Gardner resigned unexpectedly on Tuesday after months of pressure to step down, leaving city and state officials scrambling to determine who would lead prosecutions in the city.