BECKLEY – The state has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging inhumane living conditions and improper treatment at Southern Regional Jail.
According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, four separate $1 million insurance policies will be shared by about 8,900 current and former inmates of Southern Regional Jail in Raleigh County. The payments are estimated to be between $150 and $500 depending on the total number of claims filed. The amount given to each inmate will be based on the amount of time spent incarcerated at the facility between September 22, 2020, and July 19 of this year.
U.S. District Court Judge Frank Volk preliminarily has approved the settlement but still must decide whether to give final approval. Payments will be made to eligible Class Members only if the Court gives final approval to the settlement and, if there are any appeals, after the appeals are resolved in favor of the settlement.
New
| Courtesy photo
"We're glad that it's at this stage where there is a final hearing we're building toward," Steve New, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, told The West Virginia Record. "We will get weekly reports from the claims administrator about the number of claimants."
"My firm and the others represent, under contract, about 1,200 of the 8,900 inmates eligible. We think we'll be able to file claims for all of those. It's just a question of how many of the other 7,700 file claims."
The attorneys for the class ask those who were incarcerated in the time window – for more than three days – to submit a claim for compensation. Claims must be submitted by November 11.
Former SRJ inmates claimed they were subjected to inhumane treatment such as overcrowding, faulty plumbing, unsanitary living conditions, inadequate nutrition, inadequate bedding and hygiene items, improper disciplinary measures and lack of prisoner safety during their time at SRJ
The plaintiffs alleged U.S. Constitutional Amendment violations and overcrowding at the jail. According to the complaint, SRJ was designed to hold 468 inmates, but it housed 711 inmates in 2020 and had a 12-month daily population average of 640 inmates. The jail, at that time, was at 166% capacity. And the complaint says in 2021, the jail had a population of 681 inmates and an average daily population of 717 inmates.
The plaintiffs claimed the jail was so overcrowded, there were three and sometimes four inmates housed in a two-person scale and one correctional officer even recalled as many as six inmates housed in a two-person cell.
"As a result of persistent overcrowding at SRJ, many inmates are forced to sleep on the floor of their cell," the complaint states. "In addition, as a result of persistent overcrowding at SRJ, many inmates are regularly forced to live and sleep on the dayroom floor of their pod."
For more information on the case or to file a claim, the class members can visit www.wvsrjsettlement.com, call 888-398-7011 or contact one of five law firms. Those are Stephen New & Associates at 304-250-6017, Taylor Hinkle & Taylor at 304-894-8733, Lupardus Law Office at 304-732-0250, Whitten Law Office at 304-202-0511 or Robert Dunlap and Associates at 304-255-4762.
The court will hold a final approval hearing October 25 at the federal courthouse in Beckley. The attorneys also say those who don’t like the settlement can ask to speak in court about the fairness of the settlement, but they must make that request by September 17.
The settlement fund will pay eligible class members as well as attorney fees and expenses. The settling defendants also will provide up to $50,000 to pay the cost to provide notice and administer the settlement.
The state settled, but the case against the medical providers to the jail – PrimeCare Medical and Wexford Health Sources – continues. Discovery has resumed regarding those providers, but New says a lot of work remains to be done regarding the final two defendants.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:22-cv-405
