Police Board Attorney Resigns Amid Chief Pay Probe

St. Louis police board attorney Chris Graville resigned amid an investigation into the board’s approval of a major salary increase and contract extension for Police Chief Robert Tracy. The board approved the deal at an emergency meeting with little advance public notice, and the city says the higher pay was applied retroactively; Mayor Cara Spencer has paused further payments at the increased rate while the review proceeds. At Gov. Mike Kehoe’s request, Missouri’s attorney general selected an outside law firm to examine possible violations of the state’s open-meetings law. Graville defended his legal advice but called for an independent review, while Spencer criticized the legal costs and the handling of the matter.