County agrees to settle class action lawsuit arising from jail bookings fee dispute.
Spokane County and the Center for Justice have reached an agreement to settle a four-year-old, federal class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Shawn Huss and other Spokane County detainees who were subject to illegal bookings fees at the county jail.
The settlement, approved by the Spokane County Commissioners on Monday, involves a gross amount, not to exceed $491,668, that is to be divided into two payment categories. 
The first payment category will be used to compensate detainees like Huss who were never convicted of a crime and, yet, had their wallets and cash involuntarily seized to pay what, for Huss, would have been a non-refundable $89.12 booking fee had he not sued to get his money back. Funds from this first category, set at $231,668, will go first to compensate the “non-convicted” class members, with any remaining funds going to provide “enhanced mental health services” to inmates at the Spokane County Jail.
The second payment category of $260,000 is dedicated to compensation of accrued legal fees (to be determined by the court) and to compensate Shawn Huss, as class representative. Any residual funds in this second category would go to fund legal services for former jail inmates, “as agreed upon by the parties.”
“This case began when a single father stood up to government misconduct,” says the Center’s Chief Catalyst Breean Beggs. “Four years later he has partnered with the County decisionmakers to increase mental health services at the jail and provide legal assitance to former inmates in order to reduce the total number of future jail occupants.”
The settlement of the case follows a succession of rulings by Federal District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle that were adverse to the county. In August 2006, Van Sickle ruled that the booking fees charged by the county and the state law that allowed them, were “facially unconstitutional” because they deprived Huss and others of property “without due process of law.”
Two years later, Van Sickle granted the Center’s motion for class certification, setting the stage for the class action lawsuit and, ultimately, the settlement that the County Commissioners approved Monday.
See earlier story about this case here.
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