Auditor Fitzpatrick says efforts to locate Kim Gardner are ongoing as his office works to complete audit of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office

An audit of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office that first began in 2021 is nearing completion, but Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said today the report has been delayed because of Kim Gardner's unwillingness to make herself available to provide responses to audit staff. Fitzpatrick said his office has tried for months to contact Gardner including attempts to serve her with a subpoena to compel her testimony, but she has evaded service and her whereabouts are currently unknown.

"As I said when she abruptly resigned from office to avoid complying with a subpoena we were prepared to petition the court to enforce, Kim Gardner will be held accountable and we will do everything we can to make sure she answers for her time as Circuit Attorney," said Fitzpatrick. "Right now her location is unknown and all efforts to reach out to her have been unsuccessful. However, we will do everything we can to locate her and get the answers to our inquiries that only she can provide and that taxpayers deserve."

Fitzpatrick said his auditors have been able to closely examine most aspects of the Circuit Attorney's Office and have enough information to compile a thorough report, but he believes Gardner herself should answer questions that can provide additional clarity about the decisions she made while serving as Circuit Attorney. Fitzpatrick said his office has reached out to her legal representation in an effort to schedule an interview, made repeated daily calls to telephone numbers associated with Gardner, contacted close associates and former coworkers, and made numerous attempts to serve Gardner with a subpoena, all of which have been unsuccessful.

Fitzpatrick praised current Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore for his willingness to provide audit staff full access to the office. Before Gore's time in office, staff from the State Auditor's Office were not allowed onsite during the audit process, but Gore implemented an open door policy with Fitzpatrick's audit team when he took over. Under Kim Gardner, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office also frequently ignored subpoenas and delayed the release of requested records.

"This is a pattern of behavior with Kim Gardner, who hasn't shown a willingness to be transparent or accountable. Without question, she knows our audit is ongoing and that we want to speak with her about her time in office, but she has made no effort to comply with our requests or respond to our inquiries," said Fitzpatrick. "I hope she will reconsider her decision to ignore the responsibility she has to cooperate with our audit process and come forward to provide answers to us and to the people of St. Louis."

The audit of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office is part of an ongoing audit of the City of St. Louis that was requested by the Board of Aldermen in January 2018. The State Auditor's Office under Nicole Galloway first reached out to the Circuit Attorney's Office in June of 2021 in an effort to obtain and review pertinent records. When Fitzpatrick took over the audit in 2023, he served a subpoena on Kim Gardner and the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office in order to obtain documents necessary to complete the report. The subpoena resulted in the Circuit Attorney's Office producing some of the requested documents, while ignoring or attempting to delay the release of others. Fitzpatrick's office was headed to court to have the subpoena enforced the day Gardner abruptly resigned from office.

Fitzpatrick said while his office continues to make every effort to obtain information from Gardner, he encourages anyone who may have knowledge of her whereabouts to contact the State Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline at 800-347-8597, by email at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov or by visiting www.auditor.mo.gov/hotline.