Dear Members,

As most of you are aware a federal court, following a jury trial filed by a Missouri inmate, has led to a ruling that “all tobacco products and use there in be removed from Missouri prisons”.

I want to make it clear we are not in favor of this decision. However, with this being a federal court decision we have no avenue to challenge the issue. This issue has come up in the past but was never implemented so it’s not a new issue here at MOCOA. The way this issue has come about (via) court ruling has made it nearly impossible to challenge. We can only hope to get through this issue with minimal fallout. We will be in talks with the department discussing ways to make this transition as harmless as possible to staff. As this unfolds we will post new updates.

Thanks,

Gary Gross