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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A software problem kept at least two inmates in the St. Joseph County Jail longer than their sentences required in 2019, leading to a $20,000 settlement for one.
A man who was in jail two months longer than required received the $20,000 settlement from the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last month, the South Bend Tribune reported Monday.
The other affected inmate was kept two days longer than his sentence required, said Troy Warner, an attorney for the St. Joseph County Police Department.
The jail discovered the problem in December 2019 and switched to a different method of tracking inmate sentences, Warner said.
William Davis Jr., who received the $20,000 settlement, was kept in jail 60 days longer than his sentence required.
Davis, 24, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor in April 2019. He was sentenced to one year in jail and released in December of that year after 240 days served, jail and court records show. He should has served only 180 days because Indiana sentencing rules gave most inmates convicted of low-level felonies one extra day of jail credit for each day served.
Davis never complained or alerted jail staff he had been incarcerated longer than required, Warner said.
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