CLAYTON — St. Louis County Executive Sam Page has hired a new director to lead the Justice Center after a national search, the latest reform after a series of inmate deaths at the troubled jail.
Raul Banasco, a former jail administrator at county jails in San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas, also worked in the Florida prison system. In 2016, the American Jail Association named Banasco the jail administrator of the year.
Jails he has run have passed the Texas Model Jail Standard audits and National Commission on Correctional Health Care Accreditation audits with 100% compliance. He also has conducted more than 100 accreditation audits as an outside auditor, according to a news release from the county, which called Banasco an expert in jail standards.
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Banasco will start Nov. 25, and the acting director, Lt. Col. Troy Doyle, will return to his position with the county police department. Doyle was installed in April by then-County Executive Steve Stenger and instituted changes including the installation of cameras inside the jail and posting the jail’s policies and procedures online.
The county has not had a permanent director since the retirement of Herb Bernsen in early 2018.
Page said the selection of Banasco “is the result of a monthslong search for the right fit for the director of justice services role†and that his “record reflects his dedication to excellence and his ability to lead.â€
Also recently, Page signed an executive order that will provide jail inmates with no-cost menstrual hygiene products, saying it was essential to ensuring that inmates stay healthy.
A survey of the jail’s inmates and staff found that 75% of the survey respondents reported using homemade hygiene products, and that nearly one-third said they had developed vaginal infections as a result of a lack of access to hygiene products.