ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis County Circuit judge on Friday rejected a bid by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office to leverage a federal indictment of Sheriff Alfred Montgomery into his immediate removal from office..

The state argued that a civil rights charge stemming from the handcuffing of a city jail official earlier this year merited at a least temporary removal of Montgomery pending a full trial on that incident and other issues this fall. Attorneys for the sheriff noted the federal charge was a misdemeanor and argued the state was pulling a stunt.

At the end of Friday’s hearing, Judge Steven Ohmer sided with the sheriff.

“I just don’t think this rises to that level of immediate removal,” he said.

The decision marked the sheriff’s second win this week in his fight with Ba

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