Department of Justice Services

Scott Anders, Director

ADOPTED FY23 BUDGET

$28,064,471

Department Mission

FULL TIME EQUIVALENTS

344.4

The mission of the Department of Justice Services is to serve and protect the community by means of a trained and dedicated workforce, and utilizing best practices to provide supervision, rehabilitation, and opportunities in a safe, secure, and humane environment.

Budget Overview

The 2023 adopted budget for the Department of Justice Services is $28,064,471, an increase of $904,846, or a 3.3 percent from the 2022 adjusted budget of $27,159,625. Personnel costs comprise 81.8 percent of the budget for 363 positions (344.4 full time equivalents). Operating expenses account for 17.3 percent of the adopted budget. Capital expenses account for 0.9 percent of the budget.

Significant Changes

The 2023 adopted budget includes $939,445 to fund 16 new corrections officer positions to provide shift relief and reduce overtime expenditures as part of implementing recommendations of the recent operations review of the department.

The County Council reduced the department’s budget by $3,187,961 (10.2%) compared to the County Executive’s recommendation to remove the value of 75% of vacant positions.

Core Business Functions

The Department of Justice Services is responsible for:

→ Serving and protecting the community

→ Providing custody, supervision, and guidance to those persons who are mandated to county jurisdiction

→ Maintaining the highest level of security ensuring the safety of the community, residents, and staff

→ Providing a safe, healthy, and humane environment for detainees and staff

→ Encouraging detainees to grow academically, physically, socially, and vocationally

→ Providing educational, recreational, religious, and vocational programs

→ Advancing staff supervision and leadership

→ Supporting the return of detainees back into the community

→ Performing human resources, fiscal management, accreditation standards, internal affairs, and programs for detainees and those released

→ Processing of all arrested persons conveyed to the Intake Center including warrant data, records checks, fingerprinting, mug shots, classifications, and release authorizations

→

Supervision of all resident transfers to courts, clinics, hospitals, and state prisons

→ Preventing and mitigating the spread of COVID‐19

Program Descriptions

Administration

Administration is the division responsible for the overall management and support functions of the department. Included in this are Human Resources, Purchasing, Accounting, Information Technology, Training and Accreditation. All new Corrections Officers complete the Corrections Academy, and current staff are offered leadership development. The St. Louis County Jail was reaccredited by the American Correctional Association (ACA) in 2022 and remains the only accredited jail in the State of Missouri.

Strategic Priorities and Performance Metrics:

 Priority 1 (JS1.1): Increase training (HS – Reform Criminal Justice)

 Priority 2 (JS1.2): Increase the number of qualified applicants for promotion (GG – Improve Effectiveness)

Note: an “x” included in a performance metric data field means that data has not historically been reported. The business plan includes many new performance metrics where the department will capture and report data going forward.

Community Corrections and Reentry Programs

The COVID‐19 pandemic was met with a plan of action by Justice Services and Department of Public Health. This plan included not allowing mass gatherings, quarantining new admissions for 10 days, eliminating participation with volunteers, and cancelling programing and visits. This approach was widely successful at keeping COVID at low levels in the jail. Now that the virus is coming under control, the goal is to prioritize vaccines for every detainee willing to receive them Those who are vaccinated will be prioritized for programming. Visitation is nearly back to normal. An additional goal is to bring back more volunteers for educational and vocational instructions, in order to meet and exceed what was offered pre‐pandemic. The Choices drug and alcohol treatment program restarted in December of 2021 with a combination of County and grant‐funded positions. Community Corrections will continue to be an extremely important part of operations, and additional community partners and grant opportunities will be sought after.

Strategic Priorities and Performance Metrics:

 Priority 1 (JS3.1): Focus re‐entry planning on barriers and resources starting at intake (HS – Reform Criminal Justice)

 Priority 2 (JS3.2): Reduce recidivism and return to custody (HS – Reform Criminal Justice)

 Priority 1 (JS4.1): Provide evidence‐based programs (GG – Improve Effectiveness)

 Priority 2 (JS4.2): Maintain statistics on all programs (GG – Improve Effectiveness)

Is anyone better off? (Effectiveness)

JS3.1, JS3.2, and JS4.1: Recidivism rate

Justice Services residents who return to custody within 3 years

Intake and Support Services

The Intake Service Center (ISC) is located on the first floor of the Justice Center and is responsible for the processing of new arrestees. ISC Officers create arrest records, conduct wanted and record checks, fingerprint and photograph arrestees and provide other record keeping services. The photographing of arrestees is done via Inmate Recognition Identification System (IRIS), a video imaging system that enables corrections and law enforcement officials to instantly view photos of arrestees on a computer screen from off‐site locations. The division obtains key information from residents through the classification process to ensure appropriate housing, custody, medical needs, and compliance with national Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards.

Housing Security

The Housing Security division is responsible for the safe, secure, and humane housing of residents of the Jail. Residents in general population of the County Jail are housed on floors four through seven of the Justice Center. There are four housing units on each floor with 48 cells in each pod. One‐third of the cells are double bunked for a total capacity of 64 residents per pod and 256 residents per floor. A direct supervision management philosophy is utilized in the general population housing areas. Corrections Officers are stationed inside the housing pods enabling officers to take a proactive role in controlling behavior and minimizing tension. Residents may also be housed in the infirmary on the third floor. Sixteen beds are available for residents with mental health problems and 11 beds are used for residents with medical problems for a total capacity of 27 beds in the infirmary. A portion of the resident population is housed in special management housing units on the eighth floor. This would include residents needing disciplinary segregation or administrative segregation such as protective custody or behavior risks. Special management housing consists of three 48‐cell pods divided into three 16‐cell sub pods for a total capacity of 144 beds. Indirect supervision techniques are used in this area with Corrections Officers located in secure control booths and patrolling the single cell units. Housing Security Staff consists of the ranks of Officers, Sergeants, Lieutenants, Captains and Majors, as a structure which is best suited for a corrections setting.

Strategic Priorities and Performance Metrics:

 Priority 1 (JS2.1): Reinforce Justice Center Resident positive behavior (GG – Efficient and Responsible)

Special Operations and Transportation

The Special Operations and Transportation division was established to ensure appropriate supervision of resident transportation to court hearings, clinics, hospitals, and state prisons. The division oversees all aspects of emergency preparedness for the jail, especially the Special Emergency Response Team which is tasked with disruptive resident behavior, riots, and medical emergencies. They also supervise fleet operations, Armory, and Tactical Response.