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Page, who took office in early 2019 amid a spate of inmate deaths at the jail, pointed to programs instituted over the last two years including new educational and job training classes, personal electronic tablets for inmates, a pay raise for correctional officers, training for jail nurses, and the distribution of medicine to treat drug overdoses to inmates leaving custody. The jail has not seen an inmate death since early 2020.

鈥淲e鈥檙e now treating folks in the jail with dignity and respect and with an opportunity to improve their lives and get back on track,鈥� Page said during a press briefing, in response to questions posed by a reporter. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a much better atmosphere than it used to be.鈥�

The Rev. Phillip Duvall announced his resignation Friday in a letter that criticized Page鈥檚 administration over delays and limitations put on a long-sought outside audit of the jail.

The advisory board demanded the audit in August 2020 after a jail director Page had hired to turn the facility around quit amid allegations of misconduct. After conducting an internal survey, the county issued requests for bidders last year and hired CGL companies in November.

Duvall said Friday that he was frustrated with the county鈥檚 removal of language specifically calling for thorough scrutiny of inmate deaths, including six deaths of medical complications in 2019 and 2020, and the county鈥檚 refusal to release inmates鈥� medical records to auditors.

The county has maintained the records are confidential, but Justice Services Director Scott Anders told the advisory board at the last monthly meeting in April that auditors were reviewing investigative records to include in their final report by the end of June.

Page said Wednesday he expected the audit 鈥渨ill tell us that we鈥檝e done a lot of really good things over the past two years,鈥� but also point out 鈥渟ome opportunities for improvement.鈥�

Duvall also called for the six-member advisory board to be dismantled and replaced by a larger board with subpoena power and wide authority to investigate alleged wrongdoing. He is the third member of the advisory board, which Page relaunched in mid-2019 after years of apparent dormancy, to resign in protest in the past 14 months.

But Page said Wednesday he was looking to consult with other board members and consider appointments to fill Duvall鈥檚 former seat and a vacancy left by another board member, Twyla Lee, who resigned in July.

Mary Zabawa Taylor, who had first called for the outside audit, resigned in April of 2021 and was replaced with UMSL Criminology Professor Beth Huebner.

鈥淥ne of the reasons why I appointed some of our critics to the advisory board was to hear their concerns and make sure they held us accountable,鈥� Page said Wednesday. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 always do what everyone asks, but their opinions are very important to us and they need to be incorporated with the opinions of everyone else on the advisory council so we can find the best path forward.鈥�

Posted at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 1.听