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ST. LOUIS — Members of the city's jail oversight board on Tuesday will tour the troubled downtown jail for the first time since the board was created, according to the board's chair.

Oversight members will get about an hour inside the jail to meet with inmates, correctional officers and administration, said board chair the Rev. Darryl Gray. The tour will begin at 2 p.m. and board members plan to discuss their visit with news outlets shortly after.

The tour follows months of mounting tensions between the oversight board and corrections commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah.

The commissioner has come under fire in recent months from the board, whose members have complained she’s kept them from accessing records and other information to which they’re entitled, and they say she has kept them from touring the facility to investigate complaints.

But Charles Coyle, the city’s public safety director, refuted that assertion in October during a press conference announcing his permanent appointment as director. 

"They have not been stonewalled. Nothing like that has taken place," he said. "I have told them this verbally. I have told them this in writing."

He later added: "My goal is not to hold them up. My goal is to make sure they can be successful by following the law."

Earlier this month, the Board of Aldermen gave initial approval of legislation from Alderman Rasheen Aldridge that would let the board hire its own lawyer, force city leaders to provide it more information, and trim training requirements board members say have been used to prevent them from doing their work.

The City Justice Center has for several years been at the center of public scrutiny, including in 2021 after a string of high-profile uprisings over conditions at the jail. Detainees in those uprisings broke out of their cells to break windows, shout to spectators, set things on fire and throw debris to the sidewalk.

That same year, the city purchased $17,000 worth of pepper spray for the jail. The administration is now being sued by a group of plaintiffs alleging excessive use of pepper spray against inmates and claiming the city has failed to stop the abusive behavior at the jail. 

And at least 10 people have died while detained at the jail in the past 18 months.

The state auditor launched an investigation into the jail in October, citing concerns about mismanagement, inadequate inmate nutrition and medical care, and interference with the civilian jail oversight board.

The jail housed almost on Thursday, according to the city's website.

Editor's note: Story has been updated to reflect the tour will be an hour long.