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Lawmakers Press Department of Corrections on Bragg's Litigation Costs as Contract Amendments Move Forward
Summary
Committee reviewed multiple corrections contracts tied to court-ordered monitoring in the Bragg's litigation while several legislators urged holding or reviewing legal amendments after a class-action ruling found pervasive constitutional violations.
The committee reviewed several Department of Corrections contract amendments tied to the Bragg's litigation and ongoing external monitoring. Jona Ingalls, filling in for the department, said external monitoring team members were appointed by Judge Thompson and described extensions and new contracts to continue that court-ordered oversight.
Representative England sharply criticized the state's litigation strategy, saying, "We lost every bit of it," and pressed for detailed accounting of legal spending and whether settlement had been considered. England and others raised the cumulative cost of lawyers and asked corrections staff to provide summaries of the Bragg's litigation and to answer whether conflicts of interest had been considered in past counsel selections. The department confirmed weekly court meetings and anticipated external monitoring to begin later this year or early next year.
Committee members asked for briefings, and one member said they intended to hold certain contracts until questions about strategy, conflicts and settlements were answered. Corrections staff described an amendment increasing Butler Snow's funding by $3,000,000 for Bragg's-related work and noted other legal invoices and amendments to cover ongoing litigation needs.
