ST. LOUIS — St. Louis’s embattled Division of Corrections now has a new commissioner.
Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah will take over as the city’s Corrections Commissioner Sept. 13. She will be paid an annual salary of $132,106.
Corrections Division staff members tell the I-Team she was introduced to them Tuesday.
“Ms. Clemons-Abdullah’s wealth of experience is essential during this critical time for the Corrections Division in the City of St. Louis,” acting Public Safety Director Dr. Dan Isom wrote in a press release. “We look forward to working with her to bring the City Justice Center up to full operation after decades of neglect, and to help ensure the safety and well-being of our Corrections staff and detainees.”
Clemons-Abdullah is coming in to the St. Louis Division of Corrections at a tumultuous time. Violence — including two riots that involved attacks on guards, fires and detainees breaking windows that made national news — have been plaguing the city's jails for months.
The latest disturbance involved inmates fighting each other.
Part of the problem is locks at the city's downtown jail have been faulty for years, so inmates can free themselves using nothing more than a piece of paper to compromise their locks, according to corrections staffers.
Mayor Tishaura Jones' spokesman Nick Dunne said Clemons-Abdullah was unavailable for an interview Wednesday.
Jones recently shuttered the city's second jail, known as the Medium Security Institution, which sent an influx of inmates to the downtown facility before all of the locks could be fixed. The city sent 89 inmates back to MSI following the fight, and a city alderman has called for the Department of Justice to launch a federal investigation into the Division of Corrections.
Clemons-Abdullah has worked with the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, since 1992.
She has more than 46 specialized certificates of leadership training within corrections, and an ABA in Business Administration and has served at nine institutions across the country.
Most recently, she served as an Associate Warden at Federal Correctional Complex Forrest City, Arkansas where she served as the Labor Management Relations Chair, Prison Rape Elimination Coordinator, Affirmative Employment Chair and Incident Commander.
She also led an Environment Management System review prior to COVID all while leading various departments to include Psychology, Financial Management, Correctional Services, Trust Fund, Human Resources, Food Service, Safety and Health Services.
Jeffrey Carson, who has been acting as Corrections Commissioner since Dale Glass resigned, will continue to serve as a Supervisor for the Department of Corrections.