Jail settles $1 million lawsuit

SMITH COUNTY – A civil lawsuit filed against Smith County in 2023 was settled on Thursday after more than 100 former Smith County Jail inmates alleged they were held in custody for unreasonably long periods. According to court documents and our news partner KETK, the plaintiffs in the case are former Smith County inmates Ladarion Hughes, Angela Alonzo and Demarcus Lively, who alleged that their constitutional rights were violated by the county’s policy and practice of holding individuals in jail for days or weeks beyond their release dates.

All three plaintiffs in the case stated that they were held in the Smith County Jail past their expected release dates, including Hughes, who was subjected to 27 days of unlawful incarceration from late 2021 to early 2022. Additionally, Alonzo stated that he was held in custody for 33 days beyond his 2022 release date.

“They detain individuals in jail for days or weeks after they have completed their sentences,” court documents said. “The need for different procedures is so obvious that the county’s failure to promulgate and implement them constitutes deliberate indifference to plaintiffs’ and class members’ constitutional rights.”

After more than two years of litigation, a preliminary settlement agreement was reached in November and accepted by both parties on Thursday.

The settlement requires Smith County to pay a total of $1,000,000 to be distributed to former inmates who were not released within two days following the completion of their custodial felony sentences from July 2021 to Dec. 2024. The remainder of the fund will be allocated to pay attorneys’ fees, costs, expenses and class administration costs.

The settlement also requires all plaintiffs in the case to relinquish and discharge any allegations against Smith County set forth in the initial complaints, according to court documents.