Harrison County commissioners approve $28,500 settlement in Moody auto-injury suit

Harrison County commissioners voted to approve a $28,500 settlement in a pending civil case brought by Jason Douglas Moody against Harrison County (Civil Action No. 2401-25-00089), a county staff member said during the meeting.

The staff member described the case as “an automobile accident” in which a county employee “turned in front of somebody” and said the plaintiff had $17,342 in medical bills. The staff member said negotiations with the plaintiff’s attorney resulted in an agreement to accept $28,500 to resolve the claim and asked the board to authorize “a compromise of settlement of a doubt of a claim on behalf of the county and the county employee for 28,500 in Moody versus Harrison County. Civil action 25 c v 0 0 8 9.”

A board member moved to approve the settlement, a second was recorded and the chair called for the vote. The chair responded “Aye,” and the motion was announced as carried. The staff member said settling was prudent given anticipated trial costs and an assessment that the county might lose at trial: “Certainly, we would spend between 5 and $10,000 when we went to trial, and you're probably gonna lose this 1.”

The motion record in the meeting transcript does not list a full roll-call vote or a dollar source for any payout. The board’s action, as recorded in the meeting, authorized the county to resolve the pending litigation for $28,500. The transcript does not specify when payment would be made or which county fund would be used.

The matter had been set for trial in “a couple of months,” according to the staff member’s remarks included in the meeting record. No further discussion of appeals, releases, or confidentiality terms appears in the transcript.

The board moved on to other business after the settlement vote, including authorizing letters of support for grant applications.