Mayor Jones Hires Doug Burris as Interim Commissioner for City Justice Center

Today, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones announced that she has hired Doug Burris, a nationally recognized expert in corrections, to serve as the commissioner of corrections on a provisional basis, putting him in charge of the City Justice Center.

Burris, who has a decades-long history of significantly decreasing recidivism rates and improving public trust in the criminal justice system, is known locally for his impressive work to achieve those same goals at the St. Louis County Jail, which experienced no inmate deaths during his three-year tenure as director of justice services for St. Louis County.

"When Doug Burris was asked to take over the St. Louis County Jail, the facility was facing serious challenges. But by the time he left, it received the highest accreditation scores of any jail in the country," said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. "Even though the City Justice Center in St. Louis has improved in some ways during my tenure, the fact is that we need our jail to continue to improve, be safer, better equipped to bring down recidivism rates, and gain community trust. Doug's experience and professional insight will bring us a long way."

The City initially contracted with Burris in early December as a consultant to review conditions at the CJC and make recommendations for improvements. The result of this contract was the Operational Review of the St. Louis Justice Center, which includes specific recommendations for improvements to the facility.

"While conducting an operational review of the Justice Center, the assistance I received from community leaders and officials was amazing," Burris said. "I'll be leaning on them to ensure that, going forward, the Corrections Division will lead with transparency and make changes based on the shared goals of safety, treating all people associated with the jail with humanity, and producing positive outcomes."

"The provisional hiring of Doug Burris - a person with an impressive, yet tangible, track record - will not only help to sustain the effective results of the changes that we've begun to implement; but, it will help to reinforce metrics that will build on these improvements in the months and years to come," said Public Safety Director Charles Coyle.

At a press conference with Burris on Monday, Mayor Jones directed Burris to implement a number of the recommendations from his Operational Review within the first 60 days of his tenure. A full list of these recommendations will be available Monday morning.

In addition to this tenure in St. Louis County, Burris served 18 years as chief United States probation officer for the Eastern District of Missouri, which became nationally recognized for its successful implementation of recidivism reduction strategies under his leadership.

Burris has also served as a member of the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Session on Community Corrections, a three-year think tank; was invited to the White House on eight occasions to assist in shaping policy; and was an expert witness at a U.S. Senate hearing on evolving the criminal justice system. Recently, he has worked as a consultant for REFORM Alliance.

"The Department of Health looks forward to working with Interim Commissioner Burris to continually assess and improve the conditions and quality of services provided to those entrusted in our care," said Dr. Mati Hslatshwayo Davis, Director of Health.

While Burris serves as interim commissioner, the City of St. Louis continues its national search for a permanent commissioner.