St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer is pushing back on Sheriff Alfred Montgomery’s bid to take over operations of the city’s jail, saying he’s neglecting the duties his office already has — including transporting detainees to medical appointments.
“Our incarceration facility is so critically important,” she said. “Making sure that that is run well, run responsibly, and run by somebody who has experience doing that work is just so critical to the well-being of the folks in our custody and to the safety and well-being of our citizens as a whole.”
Montgomery has repeatedly floated the idea of his office assuming control of the City Justice Center, most recently in a written statement after a court hearing last Wednesday in attempts to determine if the Board of Aldermen can define his office’s responsibilities.
“This shift would empower us to directly oversee and improve medical services, ensuring that all detainees receive timely medical attention, a responsibility the Board of Aldermen has already sought to bestow upon this office,” Montgomery said. “Direct management of the CJC would place accountability for the dignity of our justice system where there is now none.”
The Board of Aldermen recently approved Board Bill 33, requiring the sheriff’s office to submit to a year of financial monitoring and to transport detainees for medical care.
Spencer signed the measure into law last week, but Montgomery quickly filed for a temporary restraining order to block it, calling the bill unconstitutional. The city countered with its own filing, urging the court to let the law take effect immediately. Circuit Judge Joan L. Moriarty did not immediately rule on the competing requests during a hearing on Wednesday.
The mayor said Montgomery should focus on meeting his current obligations, pointing to what she called unreasonable spending in his office and his refusal to transport detainees.
“I just am shocked that given this, he [...] would ask for more responsibilities for his office,” Spencer said, earlier mentioning the city had just hired corrections veteran Nate Hayward to steer the jail. “We have to have trust in our incarceration facility and to throw around who could take on that important role so cavalierly is really disrespectful to the important role that the director of the jail facility has to play.”
The sheriff’s office declining to do some medical transports isn’t the only beef with the city, which skidded into a city garage.
On Thursday, Montgomery said staff took a few of the department’s vehicles to be serviced. When they were returned, they had been wrapped in City of St. Louis graphics — without his knowledge.
“This blatant attempt to undermine the operations of the Sheriff’s Office not only compromises our authority but also places an unnecessary financial burden on the taxpayers,” he said. “By marking vehicles with city logos, we are forced to divert essential funds from crucial law enforcement operations to accommodate these changes.”
Spencer said she wasn’t aware of the branding decision before being asked by a reporter, but defended the move.
“I think it would, in most cases, be appropriate to make sure that we're identifying things that are purchased with [...] taxpayer dollars with those logos,” she said. “I wouldn't imagine that would be unreasonable or something outside of the norm.”
