St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner loses appeal on sunshine law violations

The Missouri Court of Appeals at St. Louis on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s ruling that the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office violated the state’s open records law by not producing records sought by a conservative journalist.

In 2020, St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Christopher McGraugh’s issued a $5,000 penalty for Gardner’s response to a lawsuit filed by conservative journalist John Solomon.

Solomon was seeking all of Gardner’s contacts with staff and other key players in the 2018 criminal investigations of then-Gov. Eric Greitens, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The appeals court agreed with McGraugh’s finding that Gardner’s failure to file a timely response to Solomon’s petition was the result of her “carelessness, inattention, and deliberate disregard,”

Gardner’s spokeswoman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Solomon’s attorney, Dave Roland of the Freedom Center of Missouri, said citizens needed to know what Gardner’s office was doing and why it was making some of the decisions it made.

“It was shocking and offensive that she wasn’t going to turn over anything,” Roland said.