Following a reported disturbance on July 31st, 140 people were transferred from the City Justice Center (CJC) to the Workhouse. There are currently 105 people in the Workhouse. While we applauded the Jones administration taking the important step of emptying the Workhouse earlier in the summer, we also made it clear that empty is not closed. As long as the Workhouse remains open, there is always a possibility that people can be moved back into this decrepit and inhumane jail.

The Close the Workhouse campaign has listened to thousands of St. Louisans who have affirmed that our city does not need two jails. While we understand the immediate context that led to this move, our demands are still that we end the system of pretrial detention in St Louis, re-envision public safety, and invest in people and communities, not cages. To repeat what we said in June: “Nothing short of the full and complete closure of the Workhouse will do.” We will continue to call upon the Jones administration to provide a clear commitment and timeline for this complete closure, and to move with urgency to accomplish this goal.

As we have seen, Mayor Jones has the authority as the Mayor of St. Louis to direct the closure of the Workhouse. Even now, her administration must play a critical role in both ensuring the timely closure of the jail and reducing the number of people caged pretrial for months on end. We are calling on the Jones Administration to:

• Reaffirm its commitment and provide a clear timeline for the full and permanent closure of the Workhouse.

• Publicly report monthly on the status of conditions and grievances in both jails, and the status of repairs being completed at CJC.

• Begin staffing and implementing the Division of Supportive Re-entry, including convening judges, prosecutors, and partner agencies to decrease the number of people jailed pretrial and increase the number of people released to community.

• Begin the community engagement process of re-envisioning what the Workhouse can be once the jail has been closed for good.

"Mayor Jones can now deliver on the transformation that our city deserves, and we believe the time is now to do just that"

Sign the petition demanding that the Jones administration provide a clear commitment and timeline for the permanent closure of the Workhouse, public monthly report on the status of conditions and grievances in both jails and status of repairs in the CJC, implementation of the Division of Supportive Re-entry, and begin the process of re-envisioning the Workhouse!