When people are checked into the Clay County Detention Center, they all have to pay an intake fee of $8. But for women on their periods, entering the jail used to cost them extra.
Incarcerated women at the facility used to be charged about $6 for two packages of 12 pads. If they didn鈥檛 have the money to pay, the amount would be marked as debt that they owed the jail.
But a few months ago, that extra fee was eliminated.
Due to funding lawmakers included in the state budget this year, jails across Missouri are now being issued payments to reimburse them for the purchase of feminine hygiene products. A provision signed into law also mandates that those products be provided to women at no cost.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just been nice, because it鈥檚 like toilet paper. You need it for a bodily function that you can鈥檛 help,鈥� said Sgt. Amber Brashear, the office manager for the Clay County Detention Center, which received a little over $9,500. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 been a long time coming, and I was excited about it as a female employee working here.鈥�
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers in that stipulates that jails must ensure an appropriate amount of feminine hygiene products are provided at no cost, and that they meet industry quality standards.
While many jails , not all did. It鈥檚 been a policy the state has adopted in its prisons since 2019 and one that鈥檚 mandated at a federal level, too.
In Patty Berger鈥檚 20 years in and out of prison for various shoplifting charges, she remembers having to craft makeshift tampons out of ill-fitting pads that were often too big to be used. Berger said there was always the chance that the homemade tampons might lead to an infection, something she witnessed other women experience.
Now, Berger serves as the president of the St. Louis chapter of All Of Us Or None, a national organization that advocates for the rights of current and formerly incarcerated people. Berger said providing free tampons and pads may seem like a small thing, but for women who are incarcerated it 鈥渕akes all the difference in the world.鈥�
鈥淲hen you keep breaking people down on every level 鈥� even as far as getting a pad or a tampon 鈥� it takes a little bit of their humanity from them,鈥� Berger said, later adding: 鈥淚f we can keep people as close to being human and keep treating people as human beings, I think we all win.鈥�
Rep. Bruce DeGroot, an Ellisville Republican who sponsored legislation on the issue, said he was pleased to see it making a real difference in people鈥檚 lives.
鈥淭hat is very gratifying,鈥� DeGroot said.
State lawmakers also to issue payments to counties to assist them in complying with the new law.
The funds were divided up among counties based on their percentage of the state鈥檚 overall population. Payments were issued in late July by the Department of Corrections and went straight to counties.
鈥淲hat happens after that is up to each county,鈥� said Karen Pojmann, a spokeswoman for the department.
The funding was news to John Axsom, the corrections director for the Adair County Sheriff鈥檚 Office. Axsom said he hadn鈥檛 known of the funding until contacted by The Independent. However, the amount his county received 鈥� $997.32 鈥� would be more than enough to cover the jail鈥檚 costs for providing tampons and pads, he said.
鈥淓very little bit helps,鈥� Axsom said, later adding: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to incur the cost for it no matter what, but if we can get a reimbursement, that would help the county as a whole.鈥�
Last year, the jail housed 179 incarcerated women 鈥� a downturn amid the pandemic, Axsom said.
In 2019, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page signed an executive order that mandated the county鈥檚 Department of Justice Services provide feminine hygiene products at no cost. Prior to that, . St. Louis County received the most funds from the state at over $39,000, and Scott Anders, the department鈥檚 acting director, said getting them was 鈥渇antastic.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e the largest jail in the city, and so we do have an entire pod of female residents,鈥� Anders said, which can house up to 72 women. 鈥淎nd we want to make sure that they have everything that they need. Some of them are here for a long time, and their hygiene is very important.鈥�
In northwest Missouri along the Iowa border, women weren鈥檛 housed in the Mercer County jail until it expanded in 2013, Travis Marts, the jail administrator said. Previously, the jail only had one cell and women were housed in neighboring counties鈥� jails.
Now, the jail can hold a maximum of 14 people. It rarely holds that many at once, Marts said, and annually averages around three daily, after a and the length of detainment.
The sparsely populated county of roughly 3,600 has the second-smallest population of any in the state. As a result, it received just $143.26 to reimburse purchases of pads and tampons, according to the Department of Corrections. Marts said it was nice to receive the funding.
The jail has always provided the feminine hygiene products, Marts said, and both kinds.
鈥淚鈥檓 very fortunate to have a staff full of women that have told me that there鈥檚 a massive difference between the pads and tampons,鈥� Marts said. 鈥淎nd so I just went with whatever they told me on that one.鈥�
Tampons are available for purchase at the commissary in the Clay County Detention Center, which houses an average of about 28 women daily. But the jail does not provide tampons for free, Brashear said, because of concerns of potential infections, like , a rare, life-threatening condition that occurs as a result of a bacterial infection.
However, state lawmakers and advocates said their intention was for both tampons and pads to be provided under the new law.
鈥淚 think that not providing them a tampon probably would increase the risk of toxic shock if women are forced to make their own tampons or make a tampon last longer than it鈥檚 supposed to,鈥� said Liza Weiss, the executive director of Missouri Appleseed, a nonprofit that focuses on issues at the intersection of criminal justice reform and public health and worked to get the measure funded and made law.
Research Missouri Appleseed , found that 28% of women surveyed who used homemade tampons reported experiencing a vaginal infection.
Lawmakers and Weiss said they hope to see the funding continue to be included in the state budget annually.
Rep. Tracy McCreery, a St. Louis Democrat who worked on the issue this legislative session, said lawmakers felt it was important to ensure funding was provided to help comply with the law. She hopes it will also allow incarcerated women to not have to choose between buying essential feminine hygiene products versus spending funds to make calls to keep in touch with loved ones back home.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 so important for children to be able to hear from their parent,鈥� McCreery said, later adding: 鈥淎nd I think that helps, in the long run, reduce recidivism.鈥�
The funding has also been a catalyst for other changes. When the Clay County Detention Center lifted its fee on pads, Brashear also advocated for the jail to offer women briefs as an underwear option instead of just the standard boxers.
鈥淭hey were ecstatic,鈥� Brashear said.
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