NEW ALBANY — Settlements have been reached to pay 46 of 48 inmates named in a lawsuit against the Floyd County Jail, which alleges the jail staff failed to protect them from staph and MRSA infections, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs. The lawsuit, filed as Walker v. Floyd County in the U.S. District Court in February 2007, alleged that inmates were left to dress the infectious wounds of other inmates and that medical staff would routinely dismiss symptoms as “spider bites” and refused to enter cells to treat infected inmates.

It further states that infected inmates were not isolated from healthy inmates and that inmates were threatened with losing privileges if they did not stop complaining. Inmate Pamela Walker complained that she had suffered serious and disfiguring effects from disease she contacted in the jail.

“They wanted compensation for the damages they had sustained as a consequence of acquiring the infections, but I think more broadly, there is an interest in highlighting the need for jails, just like schools just like hospitals, to be sensitive to these types of infections and the threats they pose,” said Greg Belzley, co-counsel for the plaintiffs.

Belzley said MRSA — or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a strain of staph infection resistant to antibiotics — can become chronic and life-threatening.

“It is a painful and debilitating problem. When you have it, you are miserable,” Belzley said.

Jeffrey Lowe, the attorney who represented the county in the case, said the settlement is not an admission that the allegations are true.

“It’s just a matter of a business decision of whether you continue to pay an attorney’s fee or settle out of court for a sum,” Lowe said.

He said the county stands by its treatment of inmates. “There’s nothing to correct,” he said. “They were adequately dealing with it beforehand, and they’re adequately dealing with it now.”

Although neither side would divulge the amount of the settlement, Rob Shelton, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said “nobody got rich.”

“I’m happy the case has been resolved, but I’m not happy with the end result,” Shelton said.

He said adverse judicial rulings greatly decreased the settlement values of the case. He opposed rulings by judge denying a motion for temporary injunction to change policies and practices in the jail and a motion for a class action lawsuit.

The ruling against making it a class-action lawsuit meant each plaintiff would have to go to trial separate, Shelton said, adding that it would have been especially difficult since about one-third of the plaintiffs are still incarcerated in the jail.

Shelton said two of the plaintiffs were not able to stay in contact with counsel, and the attorney for the defendants has filed a motion to dismiss those cases.

Magistrate Judge William G. Hussmann Jr., presided over the case in Indianapolis.

“I think there are still real problems in that jail. I don’t know if any substantial changes have been made in the jail as a result of this lawsuit,” Shelton said. “I would recommend that anyone that goes to that jail to thoroughly cleanse themselves and their clothes because they still have a real MRSA problem in that jail.”

Sheriff Darrell Mills said he inherited the case from the previous sheriff.

“Until I get confirmation the case has been settled, I don’t want to make a comment,” Mills said.

The Tribune has received letters from inmates, most asking to remain anonymous, complaining about the conditions in the jail. According to their allegations, some inmates are forced to sleep on the floor due to overcrowding.

Scott A. Timmonds, 26, of New Albany, said a K-9 is walked through the jail holding cells and kitchen area. He said he worries about the dog biting one of them or about hair and fleas in his food or on his clothes.

“This is one of the dirtiest jails I have ever been to, and we inmates are placed to live on the floor,” Timmonds wrote.

Timmonds has been charged in at least a dozen cases and has pending burglary charges in Floyd County.

Mills said some inmates voluntarily sleep on the floor. He declined to say whether inmates are being asked to sleep on the floor. He said the jail is designed to hold 234, and he estimated they average more than 270 inmates.

“I think it’s fair to say we’re busting at the seams, and I don’t know of very many jails that are not,” Mills said.

He said they do have a K-9 that searches the jail for drugs or any harmful materials, but he says they follow state statute closely to make sure they follow the rules and meet all state standards.

He does not believe the K-9 poses any health concerns, citing laws that allow seeing-eye dogs to go in restaurants.

“If Mr. Timmonds followed society’s laws, he wouldn’t be in my jail,” Mills said. “If he has concerns, he can address those with his attorney.”