ST. LOUIS — We are getting a better idea of just how much a special prosecutor appointed by the court will cost taxpayers in St. Louis.
It's new information that's revealed in several financial documents obtained Tuesday by the 5 On Your Side I-Team through a public records request.
On July 1, the city's legal department paid the Carmody MacDonald law firm $247,160 for services rendered between June 29, 2018 and April 8, 2019.
But that total is almost guaranteed to climb.
City Counselor Julian Bush told the I-Team his office anticipates receiving additional invoices from Carmody MacDonald in the coming weeks.
The total amount the city will have to pay the firm, Bush said, is likely to end up closer to $400,000.
And there's no negotiating the steep amount, even as the city admits it is not in possession of detailed invoice statements outlining the hours of work performed. It's believed that information lies solely with the court.
Bush said the city is being forced to pay because of a new court order dated June 29, 2019, from St. Louis Circuit Court Presiding Judge Rex Burlison.
It authorizes payment to Carmody MacDonald in the amount of $394,926 for 1,770 hours of services rendered through May 31, 2019.
The order reads, "The special prosecutor, having performed the duties as ordered by the court, the court now grants the motion and determines that the services rendered and the charge for such services to be fair and reasonable."
Last year, St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Mullen appointed attorney Gerard Carmody to serve as special prosecutor in investigating perjury allegations surrounding William Don Tisaby, a former FBI agent.
Tisaby, 66, was hand-picked by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to help her office investigate a criminal invasion of privacy case involving former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens.
All charges against Greitens have since been dropped.
Carmody's months-long investigation included weeks of secret grand jury proceedings and resulted in seven felony charges against Tisaby, including six counts of perjury and one count of tampering with physical evidence.
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Though his initial grand jury has been disbanded, Carmody has said his investigation into how the Greitens case was handled by Gardner and her office remains ongoing.
That means taxpayers could be on the hook for paying even more money.
These totals do not account for how much taxpayers could be asked to fork over for Gardner's legal defense.
She's hired at least seven different outside law firms to represent her and her office since 2018.
Those costs are expected to top at least $200,000. But whether the city has to pay on Gardner's bills remains tied up in court.
For now, St. Louis Circuit Judge Joan Moriarity has issued a temporary restraining order barring further tax dollars to be used for Gardner's defense.