Former Warren County Assessor Wendy (Nordwald) Kozma was found in criminal contempt and remanded into custody at the Warren County Jail following her hearing Friday, Dec. 5.
Kozma appeared Friday on an order to show cause regarding a motion for criminal contempt filed Sept. 30 by the Warren County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Following the presentation of testimony at Friday’s hearing, Circuit Court Judge Sonya Brandt reminded Kozma that she was present in court because she pleaded guilty to taking a substantial amount of money.
“This is a very, very serious matter,” Judge Brandt said.
“Why we are here today is we don’t have the information, the state doesn’t have the information that I ordered you to provide to the state,” Brandt said.
On July 18, 2025, the court granted the state’s request and ordered Nordwald to give prosecutors financial documents, including her federal tax returns and those of her husband from 2017 to present within 60 days as well as other records relating to bank statements relating to her and her husband.
Brandt said Kozma has essentially ignored the judge’s order regarding tax returns and bank statements during Friday’s hearing.
“This isn’t a game that we’re playing,” Brandt said. “The order was entered in July, and here we are in December...you can’t just wait until everybody is inconvenienced and brought back to court before you comply with my order.”
Brandt found Kozma in criminal contempt and remanded Kozma into the custody of the Warren County Jail. Kozma’s attorney Ella Boone-Conley asked if Kozma could purge her contempt by providing the tax documents she brought with her for the Friday hearing. Brandt said she would allow her to do that, but that Kozma would remain in custody until such time as the prosecuting attorney’s office confirmed they had the information Kozma was ordered to provide, or until her next court hearing.
Kozma, who now lives in Florida, was convicted of 15 counts of stealing in 2022 for embezzling over $250,000 from the Missouri State Assessors Association. She was sentenced to pay $213,000 in restitution and four months in prison in lieu of a 10-year prison sentence.
Check out the Dec. 11 editon of the Warren County Record for the full story.
