Sebastian County approves $3 million in jail death settlement

The Sebastian County Quorum Court on Tuesday (Aug. 20) voted to approve a $3 million settlement in the death of Larry Price Jr., who died in August 2021 after more than a year of “cruel and inhumane” treatment in the Sebastian County Jail.

A lawsuit was filed Jan. 13, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas seeking a jury trial. Sebastian County and Turn Key Health Clinics, the company contracted to provide medical care at the jail when Price died, were named as defendants.

Tuesday’s vote on the settlement included an appropriation ordinance that was not part of the public agenda packet for the meeting. Attorney Jason Owens, representing the county, and Sebastian County Sheriff Hobe Runion were prepared to discuss the matter but were never called. Instead, Quorum Court members quickly voted to place the appropriation ordinance on the agenda, and then quickly voted to approve the appropriation. The appropriation ordinance was handed out to Quorum Court members just minutes before they voted to approve it.

The money, if the settlement is accepted, comes from the county’s general fund Justice Facilities Capital Fund, with an additional $350,000 from the county’s risk management firm. Turn Key Health Clinics, which provided health care in the jail at the time of Price’s death, has reportedly agreed to pay $3 million in the settlement.

Runion told Talk Business & Politics he could not comment until the matter is settled.

In August 2020, Price, who had a history of mental illness and had several interactions with law enforcement, entered a Fort Smith police station where he was alleged to be verbally threatening and pointed his fingers in the shape of a gun. He was charged with making terroristic threats and booked into the Sebastian County Jail with bail set at $1,000. Unable to make bail, Price would remain in the county jail, often in solitary confinement, for more than a year. He would die on Aug. 29, 2021. The details about his confinement and death garnered national headlines.

Catherine Fontenot, a corrections officer from Louisiana who was hired by Heipt to review the case, said Price’s treatment at the hands of Sebastian County officials and Turn Key Health was “cruel and inhumane.”

“What happened to Larry Eugene Price, Jr. was cruel and inhumane. Numerous individual and collective failures occurred throughout his pretrial detention. In my professional opinion, the actions, omissions, and practices described in this report were grossly below the standard of care in the field of corrections.”

Based on a July 5, 2024, letter from attorney Eric Heipt with Seattle-based Budge and Heipt, the law firm representing the Price family, there was a July 8 settlement hearing presided over by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Ford. The letter from Heipt noted that judgments in similar cases range between $95 million and $8.3 million.

It is unclear if the plaintiffs will accept a $6 million settlement. Talk Business & Politics has left a message with the plaintiffs’ law firm.

Tuesday’s settlement discussion included documents being sent late last week without media notice to the homes of Quorum Court members. The documents, which turned out to be previously posted state reports and filings, were obtained by Talk Business & Politics through a Freedom of Information Act request.