Embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is under fire yet again — this time over the revelation that she has been enrolled in a post-graduate nursing program while still serving as an elected official.
According to the most recent reporting, Gardner has been enrolled in a nursing program at Saint Louis University — and her enrollment in that program came after she took office in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office.
Can't say I saw this coming: Embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is currently enrolled in an advanced nursing program at Saint Louis University. Her spokesperson wouldn't answer @RyanWKrull's questions about the time commitment https://t.co/NSyyZPBbtc
— Sarah Fenske (@sarahfenske) May 3, 2023
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, had already launched an effort to remove Gardner from office via a quo warranto motion — which a judge allowed to proceed — prior to learning that she was enrolled in the program.
Bailey announced at a Wednesday press conference that he had subpoenaed a number of documents from the school in an effort to determine whether Gardner had broken Missouri law when she enrolled in the program.
The attorney general cited a Missouri law — statute 56.445 — which requires the circuit attorney and her assistant circuit attorneys to “devote their entire time and energy to the discharge of their official duties.”
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Today, I held a press conference following my office’s issuance of subpoenas into Kim Gardner taking nursing classes.
State law requires that the Circuit Attorney devote her full time and energy to discharge her duties, which it is clear she is failing to do. pic.twitter.com/SQCxoiXMCr
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) May 4, 2023
“If the Circuit Attorney wants to be a nurse, she needs to cease pretending to be a prosecuting attorney,” Bailey said, adding, “Every minute she remains in office puts lives and property in St. Louis at risk.”
Every minute she remains in office puts lives and property in St. Louis at risk.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) May 4, 2023
Gardner has also been threatened — by at least one judge — with contempt charges after her office failed to send anyone to a murder trial.
