ST. LOUIS – St. Louis’ Corrections Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah, who oversees the troubled City Justice Center, remains off the job without explanation.
She’s entering her ninth day on leave.
City officials did not share the news with the public for the first six and have yet to release any information on why she has left her post.
She began her leave on Sept. 19. The information was only made public after the news media started asking questions about it a few days ago. There’s still been no reason given as to why.
The City of St. Louis denied actively hiding information from the public in a new statement issued by the mayor’s office to FOX 2 Thursday. The statement says, in part:
“We are not hiding information about Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah. Rather, we are adhering to city code…our office alerted the Chair of the Public Safety Committee (of the Board of Aldermen), staff of the city jail, the courts, and the Chief of Police.”
The statement refers to Section 4.15.010 of the city’s revised code, which says personnel records of city employees shall be deemed closed to the public except for name, position, salary, and length of service, and Section 4.15.020, which says records closed to the public shall also be closed to other city employees and officials.
Mayor Tishaura Jones appointed Clemons-Abdullah three years ago. There have been multiple crises on her watch, including a guard held hostage and beaten, frequent police responses to the jail, rampant drug use among inmates, and more than a dozen inmate deaths at a facility she has admitted is greatly understaffed.
There have been protests over a lack of inmate health services plus complaints about a lack of access to clients for defense attorneys and a lack of access for the civilian oversight board charged with looking to issues at the jail.
Members of the Board of Aldermen are growing weary from a flood of speculation about what’s going with Clemons-Abdullah and the jail now.
“There’s just a lot of misinformation out there,” Alderwoman, Cara Spencer (Ward 8) said. “Who knows what’s really going on here? I certainly don’t. I learned about the director’s leave of absence from the media…when you have a public that has clearly stated, ‘We have concerns here. We don’t trust what’s going on’… to shroud actions going on there, the leadership going on there, with more doubt, is not helping to build trust—much needed trust in our criminal justice system.”
There’s no indication when, or if, Clemons-Abdullah plans to return to her post.
