The St. Louis County Justice Center received a warning from the American Correctional Association after failing a jail inspection this week due to cleanliness issues in the kitchen and leaking showers.
County spokesman Doug Moore said Thursday that inspectors visited the jail on Monday and remained onsite through Wednesday, conducting a full audit.
He said they told staff the jail isn't in compliance with its current accreditation but have not yet provided a full report.
"We currently have over 1,300 residents in our jail, and then you're making three meals a day for that many people," Moore said. "That's a lot of food, that's a lot of traffic in and out of that space, so it has to be cleaned thoroughly on a regular basis. Somewhere along the line, that cleaning (dropped below) the level that they need it to be in compliance."
The jail's accreditation is valid through January 2026, and inspectors will return in about three months to check for compliance. In the meantime, Moore said they'll be conducting an internal mock audit to ensure the site is getting up to standards.
"We work with a third-party vendor who is currently onsite," Moore said. "Management is looking to see where that company fell short."
Moore said they plan to address kitchen and plumbing issues and might have to seek emergency funding for repairs.
He said a lot of maintenance has been deferred due to a lack of funding.
The Clayton jail, located inside the Buzz Westfall Justice Center on South Central Avenue, houses over 1,300 inmates and is the only ACA-accredited jail in Missouri for ALDF — adult local detention facilities.
The county Department of Justice Services received accreditation from the ACA in 2022 after scoring 100% on an audit for mandatory standards for the St. Louis County jail.
If it loses its accreditation, the jail would still be in operation, Moore said.
"It's not like we'd lose our license, it's not like we'd have to shut down the jail or anything like that, but you still want to have that seal of approval from a national organization whose job it is to set the standards for jails around the country," he said.
Jail officials will receive a detailed noncompliance report from inspectors in two to three weeks, Moore said.
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