St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery was in court today facing off against the city—as well as his predecessor, former sheriff Vernon Betts. Montgomery sought to block implementation of a new city ordinance requiring the sheriff’s office to transport detainees from the jail to hospitals and other medical appointments.
That’s something the office used to do under Betts, but it’s a task that Montgomery says it simply doesn’t have the manpower to do without causing disruptions elsewhere. He was represented in court by retired Judge David Mason, who described the ordinance signed by Mayor Cara Spencer on Monday as setting Montgomery up for failure because it includes no funding for the extra duties placed on him. “Therein lies the rub,” said Mason. He said that allowing the bill to stand would lead to cascading problems, potentially forcing the sheriff to pull bailiffs from courtrooms to cover transport. “There are not enough sheriffs available,” he said. “You want to talk about handcuffing somebody…that’s what they’re doing.”
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Mason has previously said that if the city’s legislative body can exert this sort of influence over the sheriff, whose office is at the county level, then there would be little to stop the city from doing the same thing to the treasurer’s office, the recorder of deeds and other county-level offices in City Hall. “That’s not going to hold,” said Mason.
The ordinance in question, the brainchild of Alderman Matt Devoti, came in response to a slew of scandals at the sheriff’s office, including questionable purchases and a purported refusal to take detainees to the hospital when they are in need of medical care. The same day Spencer signed the bill into law, Montgomery sued to stop it. The hearing today was Montgomery’s effort to secure a temporary restraining order to prevent the new law from taking effect while his lawsuit works its way through court.
Mason acknowledged that previous sheriffs James Murphy and Vernon Betts transported prisoners from the jail to hospitals and medical appointments, but Mason argued that elected officials aren’t bound by the practices of prior office holders. “This sheriff defeated Vernon Betts because of his bad policies,” he said of last year’s election. “Let’s get down to the politics.”
The testimony portion of the hearing had the awkward aura of a poorly planned dinner party wherein everyone invited has complicated beefs with everyone else. Montgomery took the stand, as did deputy corrections commissioner Tammy Ross, who Montgomery is under federal indictment for illegally detaining at her workplace. Yosef Yasharahla, a colonel who has been with the office since the 1990s, testified as to the logistics of detainee transport. Back when he went by the name Joseph Mopkins he sued then-sheriff Betts for discrimination because Yasharahla had a beard. Adding to the discomfort, the hearing took a pause for pre-scheduled fire drill at 1:15 p.m.
During the fire drill, Betts took reporters’ questions out on the courthouse steps. Asked if he’d be interested in assuming the sheriff’s job should the attorney general’s quo warranto removal efforts against Montgomery be successful, Betts said that he would indeed be interested. For the next hour, courthouse staff, prosecutors and defense attorneys milled around outside the courts buildings.
Betts took the stand around last, around 3 p.m., sporting a salt and pepper goatee and sharp light blue suit. After being ousted by voters last fall, he’s currently employed as a security guard at a data center. Betts told a reporter that he felt like a “foreigner” back in the courts building that was once his domain.
Betts testified that he oversaw dedicated units of deputies to transport detainees to medical care as well as keep an eye on them during any hospital stays. He added that he kept up those medical-related duties despite often not getting the funds he asked for.
Betts and the judges of the 22nd Circuit at times, however, had a tense relationship over the judges feeling their courtrooms weren’t adequately staffed or secured during Betts’ tenure. And Yasharahla testified that Betts “let the courts go,” meaning that he didn’t adequately staff them so that deputies could handle hospital transportation.
“I can’t get into details. Me and sheriff Betts didn’t have the best relationship,” said Yasharahla. In 2023, Betts emerged victorious at the trial stemming from his alleged discrimination of Yasharahla’s beard, but not before the deputy testified that during roll call Betts once bent over a table in front of the assembled deputies, looked at him and said, “Do you think that you can fuck me? You’re not getting shit.”
For his part, Betts denied he ever let court security slack, while acknowledging that hospital transport was an important priority. “Whether it’s required by law or not, it’s something that needs to be done,” he said, quoting a Bible passage about all things lawful not being expedient.
Mason asked Betts if he’d ever said he’d be a good replacement for Montgomery. Betts said, “No, I never said that.” A video of Betts making similar comments to KSDK a few months ago was played for Judge Joan Moriarty. (Mason also referenced the similar comments Betts had made to SLM and other media not 90 minutes earlier during the recess.)
“That’s you on the video?” asked Mason.
“Yes, it is,” Betts replied. “All true.”
Mason said that this spoke to Betts’ lack of credibility. “His motivation is to get Alfred Montgomery out so he can try to step in.” Mason called that “a motivation to lie.”
The bulk of the hearing concerned the current logistics of prisoner transport and which aspects of it had historically been the responsibility of the sheriff’s office and which were the responsibility of the jail. Ross, for instance, testified that the sheriff’s office slowly stopped transporting detainees for medical emergencies after Montogmery took over. She also said that the sheriff’s office requested two weeks’ advance notice for transporting detainees to medical appointments. A slim minority of the time was spent arguing what state law had to say about the Board of Aldermen seeking to hold more sway over the sheriff’s affairs.
Assistant city counselor Erin McGowan said that Montgomery hadn’t met the standard to get a temporary restraining order to block the law’s implementation. Such an order, she said, is meant to maintain the status quo while a matter works its way through court. The status quo, she said, is for the sheriff’s office to carry out medical transport. She added that the sheriff pleading a lack of resources is no excuse to not do his job.
“It is a staffing and management issue,” she said. “It’s not a legal issue.”
Moriarty said she’d rule on the temporary restraining order at a later date, likely not at least until next week.
In a brief but wide-ranging interview ahead of his testimony, Betts opined to SLM on a variety of topics including the federal charge against Montgomery, Nine PBS public affairs show Donnybrook, and the politicians who supported Montgomery over Betts. Betts said that he actually cried for the sake of the office when Montgomery was federally indicted. He added that he felt like Donnybrook commentators Alvin Reid and Sarah Fenske were dead wrong on the Thursday night program vis-a-vis both the current and former sheriffs. As for Aldermanic President Megan Green, Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, Alderwoman Sharon Tyus, and others who supported Montgomery in his run last year, Betts quoted Kurt Russell’s portrayal of Wyatt Earp in the 1993 film Tombstone, saying, “I’m coming and hell’s coming with me.”
