Lawyers representing Sheriff Alfred Montgomery have asked the court to dismiss a case brought in June by Missouri’s attorney general seeking to remove him from office.
The lawyers told retired St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven R. Ohmer this week that Attorney General Andrew Bailey was attempting to overturn the will of city voters with claims that lack legal foundation and appear to be “objectively false.”
“As with any elected officeholder, voters have the right to be satisfied or dissatisfied but their remedy is at the polling place at the next free and fair election, not in a court proceeding that amounts to no more than a political stunt,” Montgomery’s attorneys said in a court filing this week.
Asby The St. Louis American this month,
Bailey is using the same “quo warranto” legal process he used in 2023 when he attempted to remove St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from office, The St. Louis American reported earlier this month. Gardner, however, resigned before the case went to court, which nullified Bailey’s lawsuit.
Quo warranto has been defined as “a legal action used to challenge someone’s right to hold a public office or franchise.” It was not traditionally used to address misconduct in office but rather to determine if the person is legally entitled to hold their position.
In their filings, Montgomery’s attorneys challenged the legality of Bailey’s lawsuit, arguing that the legal route Bailey is taking “does not apply in this matter and should not serve to oust a democratically elected sheriff.
There have been two notable quo warranto cases in Missouri that ended the careers of sheriffs. However, both sheriffs had been criminally investigated and charged before they were ousted from office.
St. Louis Sheriff Benjamin L. Goins was removed using the legal process in 1978, filed by St. Louis Circuit Attorney George Peach. That action, however, followed Goins’ conviction on federal racketeering and tax evasion charges.
In 1999, state Attorney General Jeremiah Nixon filed a quo warranto petition after an investigation of corruption involving Sheriff Tom Russell of the Miller County Sheriff’s department. Russell got caught up in a federal corruption probe alleging that he had prisoners working at his home and business, and some of his employees were charged with selling contraband and liquor to prisoners, accepting sexual favors from female inmates and allowing unapproved conjugal visits for money.
When Bailey announced his lawsuit against Montgomery, he claimed the sheriff had abused his “authority and resources repeatedly for his own personal benefit.” He asked a judge to force Montgomery to immediately surrender his badge, weapon and vehicle, and “forbid him from exercising any authority as an elected official, pending further proceedings.”
But at the first hearing of the suit on July 9, Judge Ohmer noted that in other cases where such action had been taken, the officials had been charged with crimes. Bailey has made allegations against Montgomery, but no charges have been filed.
Ohmer called Bailey’s request for Montgomery’s immediate removal “a drastic step” and ordered the sheriff to remain in office and continue performing his official duties.
Montgomery’s lawyers said Bailey’s actions are political and reminiscent of charges leveled against his predecessor, Missouri Attorney Eric Schmitt, whose critics repeatedly accused him of launching politically motivated lawsuits to appeal to his conservative base. Schmitt’s lawsuits to enforce school mask mandates and to hold the Chinese government accountable for the coronavirus are among the cases that drew accusations that he pursued them to boost his political profile during his U.S. Senate campaign.
Although the first hearing was designed to develop an “informal road map” for an eventual trial, Montgomery’s lawyers immediately started dissecting Bailey’s charges. Retired Judge David Mason challenged Bailey’s allegation that Montgomery failed to take inmates for medical treatment by providing a copy of a contract that explicitly dictated that the city — not the sheriff’s department — is responsible for “administering, managing and supervising healthcare” for inmates.
His lawyers also challenged Bailey’s claims that Montgomery illegally used public resources, mismanaged budgetary decisions, directed an on-duty deputy to pick up his children from school and illegally hired his half-brother.
The attorneys described Montgomery’s spending as policy choices to improve the department’s morale and image. They provided birth certificates to refute allegations of nepotism and insisted the deputy who picked up his children from school is “an old friend” who helped him as a favor when she was off duty.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.