Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is asking a judge to immediately remove St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery — again.
The attorney general cited three of six allegations in the office’s case as to why Montgomery should be immediately removed from office:
- Montgomery’s order to have then-acting jail boss Tammy Ross handcuffed when the sheriff’s office was trying to interview a detainee.
- The sheriff’s office refusal to transport detainees to receive medical care.
- The sheriff having deputies drive office vehicles to transport and supervise his kids.
“When an elected official abuses authority, neglects legal duties, and exploits taxpayer resources for personal gain, the rule of law requires accountability,” Hanaway wrote in a Tuesday morning press release. “The undisputed facts prove Sheriff Montgomery has forfeited the right to hold public office, and this motion seeks to ensure justice is finally done for the people of St. Louis.”
Montgomery’s office filed their own motion on Monday asking Ohmer to drop the attorney general’s petition to remove the sheriff. In it, the sheriff’s lawyers go count-by-count and explain why each one should be dropped, saying the state cannot prevail because there are no facts to back up their claims.
“The 90-page petition should not supersede the more than 100,000 votes that put Sheriff Montgomery in office,” Montgomery’s attorneys wrote. “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.”
The office previously dropped a nepotism charge against the sheriff in late August after DNA evidence proved Montgomery and his alleged brother, Deputy Malik Taylor, were not biologically related. The day after, Judge Steven R. Ohmer declined to immediately remove Montgomery from office at the behest of then Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
In a recent interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Montgomery said the Attorney General’s petition to remove him from office was racially motivated.
“It all boils down to me being the youngest African American Sheriff elected in the United States history,” he said. “This is just a push to get rid of [...] Black Democrats around the United States, and I think that the Attorney General here felt like this was an easy grab.”
Ohmer will now have to rule whether to have a hearing on the matter or rule from the bench at a later time.
Update: This story has been updated to include details of the sheriff's request for summary judgement.
