ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick says the final report into the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office has been delayed due to former Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner making herself unavailable to his staff.
"Right now [Gardner's] location is unknown and all efforts to reach out to her have been unsuccessful," said Fitzpatrick in a statement.
The auditor says some of attempts to reach Gardner include repeated daily calls to telephone numbers associated with Gardner, contacting close associates and former coworkers, and numerous attempts to serve Gardner with a subpoena.
They have also reached out to her legal representation in an effort to schedule an interview. The attorneys they contacted represented Gardner when the audit first began. They told the auditor's team they no longer represent Gardner and referred them to a law firm in DC. That law firm never returned a call to the Auditor's office.
Auditor Fitzpatrick wouldn't go into detail about preliminary findings of their audit but says he has found a few concerns and wants to give Gardner a chance to answer their questions.
Auditor Fitzpatrick couldn't say if criminal charges could be filed against Gardner based on their findings. Fitzpatrick says avoiding transparency and accountability is a pattern of behavior from Gardner.
"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."
Auditor Fitzpatrick also praised current Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore for implementing an "open door," policy with regards to the audit.
The auditor says one way or another the report will be released this year with or without Gardner's cooperation.
The audit was first requested by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 2018 and began under previous auditor Nicole Galloway. Gardner resigned suddenly in May of 2023 the same day Auditor Fitzpatrick was set to petition the courts to enforce the subpoena against Gardner.
The auditor is asking anyone with knowledge of Gardner's whereabouts to contact the State Auditor's office at 800-347-8597, by email at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov or by visiting www.auditor.mo.gov/hotline.
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