El Paso County settles lawsuit with ACLU over jail’s COVID-19 precautions
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The El Paso County Commission agreed to use taxpayer money to settle a lawsuit filed against Sheriff Bill Elder over how he handled COVID-19 precautions at the El Paso County Detention Center.
Tuesday, the County Commission voted to pay $65,000 in attorney fees for the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit in December 2020. The lawsuit claimed that El Paso County inmates with COVID-19 symptoms were not separated from those who tested negative for the virus. Additionally, the ACLU accused Elder of acting with "deliberate indifference" for inmates.
The ACLU released the following statement in December:
"Defendant Elder had failed over a period of months and months to provide masks to inmates in their wards despite knowing masks are a simple, cheap, and effective way to prevent spread of the virus and mitigate its impact. Inmates who were being transported to court got masks during transport, but they were required to discard those masks before returning to their housing units. Inmates who made masks for themselves out of sheets or underwear risked disciplinary infractions," the lawsuit states.
ACLU of Colorado
In late October 2020, more than 1,000 El Paso County inmates tested positive for COVID-19.
In January, a judge issued a preliminary injunction against the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and issued 15 orders to be followed inside the jail for 90 days.
The order required all staff members to wear masks or face discipline, all contractors had to wear masks, the sheriff's office had to issue all inmates two cloth masks, and all inmates were required to wear the masks. Additionally, there were orders for daily checks of symptoms along with continuing with COVID-19 testing protocols.
