The city’s controversial jail, the Workhouse, remained empty Thursday as the city’s new budget took effect and zeroed out that facility’s funding.
“As of today, the budget for the Workhouse has been zeroed out and the facility stands empty.” — Mayor Tishaura Jones
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones promised to close the Workhouse within the first 100 days of her administration while campaigning earlier this year.
“When I took office, I made the closure of the Medium Security Institution, commonly known as the Workhouse, a top priority for my administration,” she said. “Throughout this process, the health and safety of the detainees is what remains paramount. As of today, the budget for the Workhouse has been zeroed out and the facility stands empty.”
Jones said the budget, which went into effect Thursday, was a reflection of her priorities that include funding detainee re-entry support programs to reduce rates of recidivism, expanding the capacity of the Civilian Oversight Board to also oversee the Division of Corrections, as well as investing in community vision planning to repurpose the Workhouse property.
“But to be clear, there is still more work to be done on this issue and it’s just one portion of our plan to reimagine public safety in the city of St. Louis,” Jones said, noting that it is a goal of hers to limit the contact people have with the incarceration system in the first place.
Interim Public Safety Director Dan Isom said the transfer of around 300 detainees from the Workhouse to the City Justice Center, the city’s other jail, was completed a few weeks ago with very few logistical hiccups.
He confirmed that as of Thursday, the CJC housed 563 detainees, with the facility’s maximum capacity sitting at 658. Isom said they’re able to keep detainee numbers where they are due to the administration having moved federal detainees out of the facility while pre-trial detainees are finally seeing their cases move through the courts as COVID-19 restrictions relax.
“We are also identifying where federal governments are planning to send detainees on a consistent basis to help us develop a more comprehensive and concrete plan to keep them connected to their lawyers and loved ones,” he said.
As for staffing levels at the CJC, Isom had previously noted that the closure of the Workhouse allowed the city to combine both facilities’ employees, ending severe staffing shortages at CJC.
However, he was asked about complaints of short staffing that have come from correctional officers’ union representatives. Isom estimated there were approximately 160 members of the correctional staff, and a total of 186 would be needed to be fully staffed.
“We have more staff who are working together under one roof,” Isom said. “We are providing training to that staff, and we are doing the repairs we need to the facility to make it even more safe. So, I do understand that change is difficult for people and there will be a transition process, but I believe we are doing everything appropriately to ensure that not only the correctional officers are safe, but the detainees are as well.”
The repairs he mentioned began at the beginning of March on the fourth floor, the location of the first public uprising in February in which inmates broke out of their cells and broke the exterior windows in February. Officials said this happened because the cell locks did not, in fact, lock. A similar uprising occurred Easter Sunday on the third floor.
He said not all locks have been repaired but there have been no incidents of detainees breaking free since the protest on Easter. Isom estimated the city will spend about $7 million on the work.
Jones noted that after someone is involved with the arrest and incarcerate model, they’re more likely to be incarcerated again in the future.
“That’s why we’re focusing on stabilizing neighborhoods with the $80 million direct relief package from the American Rescue Plan Act proposal,” Jones said. “To prime them for equitable growth and investment down the road.”
Jones also took a jab at Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed for his vote against the mayor’s plan for spending the first wave of federal pandemic aid, $81.4 million, at the Board of Estimate and Apportionment meeting on Wednesday.
“We could have these programs starting today, along with the vaccination clinics and economic release, if the board president had moved quickly to get the people of St. Louis the relief they need,” Jones said.
Reed said during the Board of Estimate and Apportionment meeting that he was opposed to voting on the matter until the Board of Aldermen issued its preliminary approval.
“Despite his unwillingness to work alongside myself and the comptroller on this year’s budget, I’m especially proud of its many provisions and the progress we’re making to reimagine what public safety looks like in this city,” Jones said.
Reed held an online webinar Wednesday seeking input from city businesses and nonprofits on how the city should spend the first portion of the $500 million in American Recovery Act funds.