ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - It has been six months since Gabe Gore was named by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) as the man who would replace embattled Kim Gardner as St. Louis Circuit Attorney.
According to a progress report released to the public by the Circuit Attorney's Office, Gore and his office have made progress on multiple areas, from a addressing a backlog left by Gardner, speeding up the office to prosecute more cases and the creation of a new unit in the first six months of Gore's tenure as Circuit Attorney.
When it comes to prosecuting cases, in the first six months since Gore took over, the office has been able to charge 2,650 cases. That number is a 45 percent increase compared to Gardner's last six months as Circuit Attorney, where the office was only able to prosecute 1,460 in that same span.
Gore credits collaboration from his office for the improvement.
"We hired 24 attorneys in the last six months, with 12 of them being former Assistant Circuit Attorneys and five of the them being experienced prosecutors being experienced prosecutors from other jurisdictions." said Gore.
In addition, Gore also added 14 support staff, including victim advocates and paralegals to address a backlog of discovery.
One of the new hiring's by the office include retired Missouri Supreme Court Judge George W. Draper III, who joined the office in October. Draper was originally hired as the office's Chief Training Officer, but he will also have another hat now too: being in charge of the Conviction Integrity Unit.
The establishment of Conviction Integrity Unit is one of four areas Gore is putting heavy emphasis on for his vision for the future of the Circuit Attorney's office. The other areas include investing in people, community engagement, and diversion.
The Conviction Integrity Unit's function will be to investigate claims of innocence and prevent, identify, and remedy wrongful convictions.
Gore also gave an update on the backlog of 250 homicides and about 6,700 cases pending in the warrant office that were left by Gardner on her way out. Gore says his office is making steady progress in addressing it. Of the 250 homicides cases, 53 of them, which is slightly over a fifth, has been disposed.
“We have met with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and next-of-kin in about 25 cases that we believe merit a second look,” Gore said in his release. “We are in the process of interviewing witnesses and examining evidence to determine whether these cases can still be prosecuted.”
That number does not include new homicides, in which there are 37 new cases.
However, Gore says he still doesn't believe the office has enough attorney's to be able to work through them all. Gore believes that he needs about 60 attorneys to be able to get through those cases.
"I'll tell you right now, we don't have the capacity within this office to handle 250 homicides," said Gore. "That's more than 100% of what typically is pending."