Rutherford County paying up to $11M in lawsuit alleging over 1,000 children were illegally incarcerated

The Rutherford County government will pay as much as $11 million to settle a class action lawsuit that accuses officials of flaunting state law and the U.S. Constitution by illegally arresting and incarcerating more than 1,000 children.

Attorneys for the juveniles and the county government filed the settlement agreement in federal court Wednesday. It was the result of 20 months of court-ordered negotiation.

The lawsuit targeted a Rutherford County policy requiring deputies to arrest and detain juveniles on minor offenses. Lawyers for the juveniles said the policy violated Tennessee state law, which limits when youths can be arrested and locked up in juvenile detention.

The plaintiffs include a juvenile arrested as a student at Hobgood Elementary in 2016. Multiple Hobgood Elementary students, ranging in age from 6-12, were arrested and hauled into detention for allegedly failing to break up an off-campus fight. Some of them were handcuffed.

The incident sparked public outrage and drew attention to Rutherford County's policy of detaining juveniles.

Rutherford County's so-called "always arrest" policy dates to at least 2003, according to court documents. Chief U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw issued a preliminary injunction blocking the policy in May 2017, saying it "unquestionably" led to irreparable harm for the juveniles.

The settlement agreement will permanently block the policy.

Under the terms of the agreement, the county will pay out as much as  $7.75 million for children who were arrested or incarcerated under the policy. 

Court documents stated some 1,400 juveniles could be entitled to a settlement under the agreement. Attorneys representing the juveniles encouraged people who think they might qualify to contact info@brazilclark.com.

Nashville attorney Kyle Mothershead, who was on the legal team representing the juveniles, decried “Rutherford County’s illegal mass juvenile incarceration regime" in a statement.

Mothershead, who handled the case alongside Mark Downton and Frank Brazil, said the settlement would provide "meaningful financial accountability" for the government and "a modicum of justice" for the juveniles ensnared by the policy.

The class action suit, which originated in 2016, is one of many against Rutherford County's treatment of juveniles in the justice system.

The county and state paid $250,000 in 2019 to settle a lawsuit over a boy with developmental disabilities who was locked in solitary confinement. A family involved in the Hobgood Elementary arrests accepted an $86,500 settlement from Murfreesboro and Rutherford County in 2017.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and atamburin@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.