ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Missouri State Auditor Office has released it's long anticipated final report into St. Louis City Circuit Attorney's Office while it was under Kim Gardner.
Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick says in his report he agrees with a Circuit Judge who infamously called Kim Gardner the captain of a 'rudderless ship of chaos.'
According to Fitzpatrick's report, that comment came when Gardner sent an unprepared designee to represent her at a court hearing because at that time she was working towards a nursing degree at St. Louis University.
This wasn't the only time Gardner dedicated work hours towards her degree, as the audit found her to have spent the equivalent of nearly 35 days or approximately seven weeks of work time towards her education.
The audit also found more misspending than Gardner had admitted to months ago. In addition to Gardner reimbursing herself for personal fines, the audit found over $58,000 misused, with some of the money went towards DJ services, chili cook out supplies, car detailing, party and community meeting locations flowers and more.
"Taxpayers should be outraged by how this office was run into the ground by Gardner at the same time she was using tax dollars to throw parties for her staff, and to pay for her personal legal fees that were a result of her own incompetence." said Fitzpatrick in a release.
The report also details how the office struggled under Gardner, with the number of cases filed nearly cut in half and a 40% increase in the number of cases refused.
The average time for cases to be closed grew from 293 to 463 days. Under Current Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore, that fell back down to 142 days on average.
"Our audit report paints a clear picture of an office that was far better off before Kim Gardner took over and has quickly rebounded after her departure. Despite her efforts to stand in the way of the audit process, we were able to obtain the information necessary to give taxpayers the full story on the damage she did to the office," said Fitzpatrick.
"I'm thankful current Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore has begun to right the ship and that he worked to ensure we had the access we needed to complete this audit."
Gardner faced mounted criticism during her time as Circuit Attorney, from the handling of high-profile cases, seeing numerous staff attorney resignations leading up to her resignation and seeing the relationship between the Circuit Attorney's Office and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department being strained under her tenure.
An audit was first requested by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen back in 2021 and began under previous auditor Nicole Galloway. Gardner resigned abruptly in 2023, on the same day Auditor Fitzpatrick's team was set to go to court and ask for a subpoena to compel Gardner to cooperate with his investigation.
Fitzpatrick previously said the audit would be released last year, Fitzpatrick told reporters last year their final report was delayed from being released to the public because of Gardner's refusal to meet with Fitzpatrick and his office. Gardner would eventually meet with investigators in June 2024.
This story is breaking and more information will be updated as soon as it becomes available.