For the Missouri attorney general’s office, the fourth time’s the charm.
A judge ruled Wednesday that St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery cannot run his office from jail — answering a repeated call from Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway — at least until a trial to oust him permanently is held next month.
“With the sheriff in federal custody — in jail — I just don't see how it’s doable,” Circuit Judge Steven R. Ohmer said. “And accordingly, that he’s unable to perform his duties under those circumstances.”
Following the hearing, Presiding Circuit Judge Christopher E. McGraugh appointed former St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden as interim sheriff, effective immediately.
In addition to ruling on the temporary removal, Ohmer denied both Hanaway’s and Montgomery’s competing requests for summary judgment ahead of the trial next month.
Ohmer’s rulings come weeks after he denied other state-led attempts to remove the sheriff from office. The judge said then that the trial needed to go through and that evidence needed to be presented, but that was before Montgomery was jailed for violating his bond and was accused of using a secret burner phone to harass witnesses while under house arrest.
The removal petition accuses Montgomery of kidnapping and handcuffing the acting jail commissioner, illegally disarming a former sheriff’s deputy, misusing public resources and financial mismanagement.
The sheriff recently was indicted on five new federal felony charges. Prosecutors say he failed to disclose several firearms in his possession, violating the terms of his bond and landing him in federal custody until trial. He will continue to receive his nearly $145,000-per-year salary while in jail.
Montgomery has maintained his innocence.
Ohmer peppered the sheriff’s attorneys with questions about how the sheriff has executed the duties of his office while jailed, to which the lawyers described a hodgepodge of communication over phone and Zoom and other decisions related to the office.
“I’m talking about his ability to perform his duty and that is most concerning to me,” the judge said. “He's confined miles away and he's at the mercy of you folks to tell him what to do or what not do to.”
Ohmer ordered that McGraugh — in consultation with Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore and Police Chief Robert Tracy — appoint a temporary replacement.
David Mason, the sheriff’s attorney, advocated for Montgomery’s second-in-command Col. Yosef Yasharahla to continue running the office day-to-day as interim sheriff. The attorney argued that Montgomery had already appointed him as such. Doing otherwise, Mason warned, guaranteed “chaos will ensue.”
Hayden served as St. Louis police chief from 2017 to 2022, succeeding Sam Dotson. Hayden was with the department for about 35 years before retiring.
The sheriff’s woes have continued in recent weeks.
Tashana Syas, former personnel and fiscal operations director, is suing Montgomery, claiming she was slandered and fired for testifying in the attorney general’s case against him. Shortly following her departure, Comptroller Donna Barringer released a blistering audit detailing widespread financial mismanagement by the office.
Blake Lawrence, a sheriff’s staffer and attorney, claims he was also retaliated against and placed on administrative leave for cooperating with state and federal investigators. But text messages obtained by St. Louis Public Radio showed Lawrence threatening to send deputies to his home — over what he called “defamatory” coverage about the sheriff’s office failing to pay for uniforms and badges.
The tumult in the sheriff’s office has resulted in bipartisan support for Montgomery to resign — including the attorney general, Mayor Cara Spencer and Aldermanic President Megan Green.
“We understand the courts have a vested interest in having a functional Sheriff’s Office and are taking the actions they see as necessary for the functioning of a Sheriff’s Office,” the mayor said in a statement Wednesday. “Our office stands ready to support Interim Sheriff John Hayden."
Green said Wednesday she trusts the city prosecutor’s discretion to name an interim sheriff, but she underscored the need to have a transparent hiring process with public input if Montgomery is permanently removed. The board president said her legislative body would be in line to pick a replacement along with the comptroller and mayor, as it had done in the 1970s.
“The Board of Aldermen is still committed to working with the mayor and comptroller to establish a transparent process for appointing an interim sheriff that gives equal access and opportunity to any qualified candidate in the city to attain that position,” she said. “I think voters want to see transparent processes. They don't want to see decisions just made behind closed doors.”
Mason said the office will move forward with the judge’s decision.
“It’s obviously not the outcome that I was advocating for it as an attorney, but if it's got to happen, he may be the best choice in this whole region of the state,” the sheriff’s attorney said of Hayden. “He'll be fine. He'll keep things running very well until ultimate decisions are made.”
This story has been updated with court details and comment from officials.
