A St. Louis Circuit Court judge has ordered Sheriff Alfred Montgomery removed from office, ruling that two incidents involving the misuse of authority were serious enough to justify ouster.
Steven R. Ohmer ruled that Montgomery will be removed next week, a little more than a year after he took office. While the judge found most of the allegations brought by state prosecutors to be “unconvincing and insufficient,” he concluded that Montgomery’s actions in disarming a guard and handcuffing a city official amounted to willful neglect of duty.
Writing that Montgomery neglected “his official duties and, as a result, forfeited the office of sheriff,” Ohmer added, “It is further ordered that the temporary order of removal is hereby made permanent and the respondent is hereby ordered ousted from the office of sheriff for the City of St. Louis.”
Although Montgomery is being removed from office, his legal challenges continue. He still faces a federal misdemeanor charge related to the handcuffing incident, as well as five federal felony counts alleging witness tampering and retaliation.
Montgomery’s legal troubles began earlier this year, when former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit seeking his removal. The case cited multiple alleged offenses, including hiring a family member, ordering an illegal arrest, directing a deputy to pick up his children from school, failing to carry out key duties of his office and reckless, unlawful spending.
Ohmer’s ruling ultimately hinged on two incidents.
One occurred in February at the St. Louis City Justice Center, following allegations that a sheriff’s deputy had sexual encounters with an inmate. According to court filings, Montgomery went to the jail insisting he needed to see the detainee. When Deputy Jail Commissioner Tammy Ross refused, Montgomery ordered a deputy to handcuff her.
That action fell outside Montgomery’s authority as an elected official, Ohmer ruled.
“In fact, these actions impair and impede respondent’s ability to perform his actual duties and jeopardize the enforcement of criminal laws,” the judge wrote. “Simply stated, one should concentrate on one’s actual duties and not perform other imagined duties,” such as conducting an internal affairs procedure.
Ohmer also cited an incident in which Montgomery confronted a former employee working a security shift at a local gas station. Montgomery allegedly confiscated the individual’s personal firearm, claiming the former employee was impersonating a sheriff’s deputy.
That conduct, the judge wrote, was “a blatant effort to enforce the criminal laws of the State of Missouri in direct violation of his duties.”
Although Montgomery is being removed from office, his legal challenges continue. He still faces a federal misdemeanor charge related to the handcuffing incident, as well as five federal felony counts alleging witness tampering and retaliation.
David Mason, a retired judge and member of Montgomery’s legal team, said an appeal of Ohmer’s ruling is likely, though he said he does not expect to be involved.
“Given the weakness of the state’s evidence, I would anticipate that his lawyers would be taking a close look at an appeal,” Mason said.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.