Aldermen Seek to Force St. Louis Jail to Give Access to Attorneys, Officials

Two bills introduced with the St. Louis Board of Aldermen aim to ensure that attorneys can visit their clients in jail and allow city officials to visit the jail without prior notice.

As controversy after controversy roils the St. Louis City Justice Center, jail administrators have responded by blocking attorney access and barring them from bringing cellphones with them to visit clients.

The bills seek to mitigate that. Introduced by Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier and Ward 14 Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, they have both been assigned to the Public Safety Committee.

Sonnier’s bill, Board Bill 11 , co-sponsored by Aldridge, would allow attorneys to have non-contact meetings with their clients without advance notice or restrictions at any time from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“Non-Contact Visits between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. may be arranged with the Commissioner or Sheriff with at least one (1) hour’s notice provided by the Attorney in advance,” the bill adds.

The bill also states “an Attorney shall not be prohibited by Detention Facility staff from bringing their cellular telephone, laptop computer, cameras, or any other equipment needed for visitation with a Detainee.” And, it says they will not have to provide documentation proving that they represent their client.

Board Bill 11 puts into law that attorneys must be able to pass their clients documents even on non-contact visits and states that any detainee in segregation or solitary confinement will have non-restricted attorney visits.

If an attorney is denied a visit for any reason, the commissioner or sheriff must provide written notice within an hour of the denial explaining the specific reasons for denial — a document that will be considered an open public record.

Sonnier did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Board Bill 12 , sponsored by Aldridge and co-sponsored by Sonnier, allows authorized individuals — including the mayor, members of the Board of Aldermen, attorneys and members of the jail oversight board — to access the jail at any time without prior notice.

Aldridge told RFT that the two bills are another way to have oversight of the jail, which he notes has had many recent problems.

“When you schedule something that gives an opportunity for people to clean it up,” Aldridge says. “And not saying that anything negative is going on, but there's been several articles of how we could just be doing a lot better in our jail. So this would provide additional oversight.”

Some of the recent coverage by the RFT includes a story about a paralyzed detainee who was allegedly left lying in his own feces for days and denied access to a shower, and a man shot by police whose family says he was denied medical care in jail .

“We know that jail is not a place of luxury, but it also shouldn't be a place that is inhumane where people are sitting in jail for months at a time and then dying on the city's watch,” Aldridge says.

Aldridge says he is also looking at ways this session to strengthen the detention facility oversight board. Several members resigned after saying that jail administration blocked them from being able to provide any meaningful oversight.

“We continue to hear that the detention facility oversight board is continuing to be stonewalled by the administration or the jail commissioner by not allowing them to do their job,” he says.

Aldermen made progress on this last session, Aldridge says, referring to his bill giving the oversight board more teeth . But, he adds, aldermen can continue to strengthen legislation surrounding the issue.

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