From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

ST. LOUIS u A judge has sided with Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's office in its effort to remove St. Louis Sheriff Alfred
Montgomery from office.

In a ruling on Tuesday, Judge Steven Ohmer ordered that Montgomery be
removed from office. Closing arguments in the case were on Nov. 25.

"The respondent is hereby ordered ousted from the office of sheriff of
the city of St. Louis," the judge's order said. The order comes about
one year after Montgomery was sworn in.

Former St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden has been serving as the
interim sheriff since Oct. 29.

Ohmer said there were two main reasons behind the order: One came when
he barged into the City Justice Center and ordered Commissioner Tammy
Ross handcuffed. The second came when he went to a south city gas
station and tried to investigate and ultimately disarming a former
sheriff's deputy who was working a side job on security patrol.

Montgomery later said both instances were simply internal affairs investigations.

On the other counts, Ohmer found that none of them rose to the level
that would have led to expulsion.

"Montgomery abused the powers of his office and crossed a line,
encroaching into police territory," said Ohmer in the ruling.

One of Montgomery's attorneys, retired judge David Mason, said
Montgomery's team is disappointed by the order.

"Our position is that there was lawful conduct on the part of the
sheriff when he held that gun back for a little bit because he was
worried about whether not the situation would escalate. And that he was
lawful in his belief that Tammy Ross was interfering with his exercise
of a duty of his office. We hold to that position," Mason said.

Ohmer said under state law Montgomery doesn't have the authority to
enforce criminal laws, calling both actions an interference of police investigations "clearly in an effort to enforce criminal laws."

Mason disagreed.

"The law actually gives him the right to engage in activities as a law enforcement authority if they are ancillary to what he's doing as a
sheriff," he said.

Mason added he believes Montgomery was wrongfully removed from office.

"I don't think that the removal was appropriate under the facts and the
law," Mason said.

The quo warranto petition seeking Montgomery's removal was filed by then-Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who has since left the job to
become co-deputy director of the FBI. Hanaway took up the case and has
added additional counts to the petition after Montgomery was taken into
federal custody last month.

Ohmer temporarily removed Montgomery from office earlier this year. He
said the sheriff's office shouldn't be "wallowing in limbo" while
Montgomery is held in federal custody far outside of the city,
effectively unable to perform his duties as sheriff.

Ohmer tasked 22nd Judicial District Presiding Judge Christopher E.
McGraugh with overseeing the sheriff's office while Montgomery was in
federal custody, and McGraugh named former St. Louis Police Chief John
Hayden as the interim sheriff.

Hanaway's office released the following statement in response to
Montgomery's ousting:

Today, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced that a
judge has handed down the decision that Alfred Montgomery is to be
immediately and completely removed from the position of Sheriff and that
the costs of the suit are to be taxed to Montgomery.

oCorruption in public office must not be tolerated. The removal of
Alfred Montgomery is a win for the people of St. Louis and a step
towards restoring integrity and trust in our government and the rule of
law,o said Attorney General Hanaway. oMissourians deserve better from
those in positions of trust. Our Office will continue using the full
force of the law to hold any misconduct or malfeasance in public office accountable.o

TodayAs court decision outlines that Alfred MontgomeryAs actions
oconstitute a complete disregard and refusal to perform the official
acts and duties by law which [Montgomery] was charged to do.o

The Attorney GeneralAs Office first demanded MontgomeryAs resignation in
June 2025 following credible reports of corruption, financial
mismanagement, and workplace instability. When he refused, the Office
filed a 90-page petition for a writ of quo warranto outlining six
initial counts of misconduct, including unlawful arrests of private
citizens, failure to transport inmates for critical medical care, misuse
of taxpayer resources for personal benefit, and reckless spending of
public funds.

Final counts in the writ of quo warranto case against Alfred Montgomery included:

Montgomery violated o 106.220 by failing to personally devote his time
to the performance of the duties of the office of the sheriff of the
City of St. Louis. Montgomery ordered deputies to handcuff and detain a
deputy commissioner of the St. Louis City Justice Center without
authority, violating state law and her civil rights. Montgomery is
accused of illegally arresting a lawfully licensed private security
guard and seizing the individualAs firearm, despite lacking any legal
authority to make arrests or to deprive citizens of their protected constitutional rights. Montgomery refused to carry out his legal duty to
ensure detainees received medical treatment, failing to provide required transports more than sixty times during his first seven months in
office, despite clear guidance from prior sheriffs, the City Counselor,
and the Board of Aldermen that the SheriffAs Office bears that
responsibility. Montgomery used on-duty deputies and taxpayer-funded
vehicles to transport and supervise his children, a clear violation of MissouriAs prohibition on deriving personal benefit from public office
under o 105.452. Montgomery willfully or fraudulently violated an
official duty by mismanaging the finances and creating an increasing
monetary deficit for the SheriffAs Office. The CourtAs order found
MontgomeryAs arrest of Tammy Ross and detention and disarming of Darryl
Wilson constituted acts that justified MontgomeryAs immediate permanent
removal from office. The CourtAs order explained that Montgomery should
have oconcentrate[d] on [his] actual duties and not perform[ed] other
imagined duties.o

oIt was citizens of St. Louis who reached out with reports of
misconduct, malfeasance, and unethical behavior that prompted an investigation,o said Gregory M. Goodwin, Public Protection Section Chief Counsel. oAbandoning core responsibilities less than fifteen hours into
the job reflected a level of disrespect to the privilege of public
office and set the tone for MontgomeryAs short tenure. The Missouri
Attorney GeneralAs Office brought forward credible evidence and, with MontgomeryAs removal, we have won for the people of St. Louis.o

The case was investigated and tried by Assistant Attorneys General
Gregory M. Goodwin, Andrew Clarke, Casey Campbell, Gabriela Gonzblez,
Caleb Rutledge, Kate Whitaker, Conner McDonough, Investigators Rob
Jauer, Tiffany Lindewirth, Carl Schwartze, Jason Bilyeu, and Kyle
Eckhoff. Further assistance was provided by Deputy Attorney General
Shaun Mackelprang and Tristen Shaw.

Under Missouri law, the Attorney General is authorized to file a
petition for a writ of quo warranto to remove an official who has
unlawfully held office or forfeited it through willful neglect, abuse of
duty, or misconduct. TodayAs court ruling reaffirms Attorney General
HanawayAs commitment to rooting out government corruption and upholding
the rule of law in Missouri.

Montgomery remains in jail in federal custody as he waits for his felony
trial on witness tampering and intimidation charges.

"He's tried to be a good public servant, and he doesn't understand why
anything that people are saying that he's done will rise to the level of keeping him in prison when there's so many people out there who've done
worse, who are running free, particularly around Christmas time," Mason
said.

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/politics/judge-orders-removal-alfred-mo ntgomery-as-st-louis-sheriff/63-7420ff80-02f5-4a99-a153-5e86ceca32e3

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