SAGUACHE– A lawsuit reportedly filed in Federal Court was settled in June according to acting County Administrator Wendi Maez, who provided minutes from the commissioners’ meeting allocating funds to the sheriff’s office as a supplemental budget request.
The purpose of the funds was not stated in the minutes. Sheriff Dan Warwick said the federal judge who decided the case asked that the terms and details of the settlement be kept confidential as terms of the settlement. The amount of the settlement, however, was published by the county last month and listed as a legal settlement.
According to a tip sent in by a former law enforcement officer, recipient of the settlement was a former Saguache County jail employee who had been on sick leave from his/her position prior to the settlement. Commissioner minutes report the recipient of the settlement was awarded $34,502.61 for professional services; $26,400 salaries; $13,507.82 health insurance and $29,097.30 for miscellaneous.
Several jail employees have complained the jail is consistently shorthanded and working conditions there are stressful.