St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore says his office has cleared a backlog of nearly 7,000 cases that were awaiting charges.
“Really, the story of the last two years for this office is a story of community coming together and collaborating to address a situation that had reached a crisis point,” Gore said Tuesday at a news conference marking two years in office.
Then-Gov. Mike Parson appointed Gore to the circuit attorney post in May 2023 after Kim Gardner resigned under pressure. He won a full four-year term in August.
When Gore took over, there were more than 6,700 cases awaiting charging decisions from the prosecutor. He said that thanks to hard work by his assistant circuit attorneys and outside help, that backlog has been eliminated.
Many of the cases were for violent crimes including murder, Gore said. In some instances, defendants were facing charges from multiple cases.
“By prioritizing those cases and by prosecuting those cases aggressively, we removed dangerous individuals from the street, and I know that work not only improved public safety but saved lives,” Gore said.
Performance in the office has improved in many other ways, Gore said. It now takes an average of seven months for a case to move through the criminal justice system from charging to sentencing, down from 15 months during Gardner’s final year in office. Prosecutors now issue charges on the vast majority of cases within 24 hours.
The office has also restarted a diversion program, which gives people facing low-level felonies the chance to avoid a criminal record. Although Gardner had championed a commitment to diversion, the program was “basically nonexistent,” Gore said.
Participation in treatment courts, which help address crimes driven by substance use disorder and other mental health issues, has also increased, Gore said. And his office has started a drop-in center where individuals can take care of outstanding warrants.
“Rather than have that warrant hanging over their head, we give them the opportunity to come in and work with our office to resolve those warrants and address them in an appropriate way in court,” Gore said.
The center has served more than 200 people since it opened in February.
But prosecutors in the office are still dealing with high caseloads. Members of the violent crime unit, for example, are handling about 80 cases, double the recommended number. Other units are also seeing elevated workloads, though not to that extent.
When Gore took office, there were barely 20 trial attorneys. That number is now up to 48, and Gore said he expects it to be at 55 by the fall.
“We do believe that when we get to the level where we're fully staffed at 60 attorneys, we will be functioning at a sustainable level,” he said. “It's a concern, and it's something that we're working hard to address.”
