jails

Timothy Beckmann was arrested in late September but had not been convicted of any crimes yet. He was found dead Monday at the Jackson County Detention Center, months after being ordered into the custody of the Department of Mental Health.

A lawsuit in San Francisco suggests forcing detainees to live in the dark could violate their constitutional rights. This issue is top of mind for residents who have followed the opening and closure of jails in St. Louis, where detainees can go years without seeing the sun.

Ozark County reached a contract with ICE to help the Trump administration carry out immigrant detentions and deportations. And the rural Missouri county is reaping the benefits by raising wages and hiring for new law enforcement positions.

On April 8, Kansas City voters will be asked whether to renew a sales tax that would fund the construction of a new city jail. Proponents call it a necessary public safety measure, while opponents argue it would fail to address the root causes of crime.

Kansas City voters soon will decide whether to renew the public safety sales tax. City leaders would use that money to build a new jail, but not everyone likes the idea.

Kansas City voters will be asked in April's election whether they'll support a renewal of the city's public safety sales tax, which city officials want to use to fund a new jail. Plus: A small park in Westwood has sparked legal battles, heated city council meetings and even protests. Now, voters will decide its fate.

There are 418 Missourians across the state on a waiting list for a mental health bed, up from around 300 at this time last year. People are spending an average of 14 months in jail before receiving their court-ordered treatment.

A proposal by Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman would outlaw the use of restraints on pregnant women in the third trimester, during labor and for the first 48 hours postpartum “except in extraordinary circumstances.” Missouri banned the practice in state prisons in 2018.

The Department of Mental Health said the number of people waiting in jail to be transferred to psychiatric hospitals will continue to rise because inpatient beds are at capacity. A new hospital is planned in Kansas City, but it could be years before construction is complete.

Missouri has 285 people waiting in jails to be transferred to state-run psychiatric hospitals, potentially for months, without having been found guilty of a crime. And that number has been going up over the last few months, despite new mitigation efforts.

As Kansas City explores constructing a new municipal jail, prison experts say the city has an opportunity to take a different approach to crime. Kansas City has long used its municipal jail for those who violate city codes, but the vast majority of inmates are nonviolent offenders.

There are currently 253 people in Missouri jails, who haven't been convicted of a crime, still waiting to be transferred to a state hospital for mental health treatment.