ST. LOUIS • The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri is asking a circuit court judge to force the city to turn over jail records relative to inmate grievances.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the ACLU says the city's division of corrections has for four months ignored its request for the records under the Missouri Sunshine Law.

The request, dated Sept. 27, asked for "any and all records relating to the inmate grievance procedure" not including copies of specific grievances filed. It was sent to Lorenzo Chancelor, then listed as the custodian of records for the division.

On Nov. 4, according to the lawsuit, Public Safety Director Charles Bryson emailed an ACLU staff member saying that Chancelor no longer worked for the division, but that the information would soon be delivered. The ACLU says it has received no further response.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order an injunction, forcing the release of the records, and also to find that the city and departments involved violated the Sunshine Law, and impose any civil penalties according to the law.

The city's two jails came under fire last year after a series of jail breaks revealed lax procedures and safety measures at the facilities. Corrections Superintendent Eugene Stubblefield was suspended over the flap.

The ACLU has also long been critical of treatment of inmates at the two facilities, in 2009 releasing a report that raised concerns over reports of inmate assaults, sexual harassment, medical neglect and other abuses.

Representatives from the city and ACLU could not immediately be reached for comment.