The troubled city jail in downtown St. Louis is under new management.
A spokesman for Mayor Tishaura Jones confirmed Thursday that corrections commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah has been on leave since Sept. 19. Officials would not say how long she will be on leave or the type of leave she is taking, citing parts of the city code that protect personal employment records.
Clemons-Abdullah’s oversight of the City Justice Center downtown has been under scrutiny for years. At least 11 detainees have died at the facility since 2022. There have been multiple uprisings against conditions at the 22-year-old jail. A corrections guard was injured in an August 2023 hostage-taking. And a circuit judge had to issue an order in April to force jail officials to allow detainees to speak to their attorneys. Aldermen followed up with legislation that made jail employees liable for fines and fees if they blocked attorney access to the jail.
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge of the 14th Ward has been among those calling for Clemons-Abdullah to resign. He said the city needed to be more transparent about the change in leadership.
“I want to be respectful,” he said. “If it’s a medical leave, that’s different. But in a jail that has had continuous problems, I think more transparency to the public, to elected officials, and to families that have folks in there, could be helpful to let some of these doubts and some of these fears not continue to be in people’s mind.”
Clemons-Abdullah had also been accused of blocking access to the jail by members of the Detention Facilities Oversight Board. Its members had their first interview with a detainee in April, more than two years after the board formed.
Its chair, the Rev. Darryl Gray, said members did not wish to speak on personnel matters.
A deputy commissioner, Tammy Ross, is serving as acting commissioner.
