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The Jackson County legislature has approved a $275,000 settlement with a victim of alleged negligent acts at the Jackson County Detention Center.
The legislature approved a resolution for the settlement on Monday. The vote was 6-0, with three legislators absent.
The settlement is with L.M., who made a claim against the county for alleged negligent acts within the Jackson County Detention Center, the resolution said.
Jackson County Detention Center
Steven A. Ediger of Prairie Village, Kansas, is representing L.M.
He said the case was “resolved satisfactorily to both parties,” but declined to comment further. He said no lawsuit was filed prior to the settlement.
Brenda Hill, spokeswoman for the county, declined to comment on the settlement.
Hill and Ediger both declined to comment on the basis of the claim.
The settlement follows investigations of sexual assaults at the jail in 2016 and abuse against inmates by guards in 2015.
The alleged sexual assaults were reported Aug. 26, with two women saying they were sexually assaulted by one or more male inmates, the county said in a statement at the time.
Following an internal review, the county suspended one staff member without pay for a potential violation of department policies and procedures.
In a joint statement, leaders for Jackson County and Kansas City announced there would be an independent investigation into the incidents.
Former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves of Graves Garrett in Kansas City was hired to lead the investigation.
Charges of rape, burglary and sexual abuse were brought against Dontae D. Jefferson, 30, of Kansas City, in September in connection with one of the assaults.
In 2015, the jail became the subject of a task force created by the county executive after the FBI announced investigations of four cases of guards accused of abusing inmates.
