By Nick Smith
Gongwer News Service
Michigan paid just over $38 million in lawsuit settlements and judgments during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The payout represents the lowest amount the state has paid out in at least a decade of data.
State Police accounted for the highest portion of the year's legal payouts at $15.3 million.
The state of Michigan paid more than $38 million for judgments and settlements in lawsuits against it during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
That’s less than half of what was paid out during the previous year, officials say, and the least paid out by the state in at least a decade.
A yearly report from the Senate Fiscal Agency on the status of lawsuits involving the state of Michigan released recently showed there were 221 cases in which the state released money through judgments or settlements totaling $38 million.
This was down from $82.4 million paid out by the state during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
It was the lowest payment total from the state in a fiscal year dating back to 2015-16 according to the SFA, the next-lowest being $42.2 million paid out during the 2020-21 fiscal year.
The other eight previous fiscal years have ranged from a low of $59.6 million in fiscal year 2019-20 to a high of $91.2 million in 2016-17.
Of the 221 cases resulting in payments, 205 were settlements totaling $30.9 million, and the remaining 16 were judgments totaling $7.2 million.
The Department of State Police recorded the highest amount of money paid out during fiscal year 2024-25 at $15.3 million.
A total of 16 payments were made by MSP, 13 of which were settlements and three that were $1 million or more.
The largest was $9.3 million in a case in which a State Police lieutenant and an assistant attorney general were accused of deliberately, or recklessly, disregarding the truth while pursuing sexual abuse charges against a man going through a custody dispute with his former wife.
The man was held in solitary confinement for five months. A jury awarded a verdict of $60 million against multiple local and state law enforcement agencies. The settlement only resolved the damages against the lieutenant.
Another settlement was for $3.5 million stemming from a State Police trooper stuck another vehicle with a state vehicle, killing one of the two in the other vehicle.
A third settlement was for $1.5 million to bystanders who witnessed police chases through residential neighborhoods and were injured or killed.
After not having any settlements over the previous nine years, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development paid a $3.25 million settlement in 2024-25. It was made to a decedent’s estate after the individual died from chemical exposure to hazardous chemicals while cleaning a dairy tank. The estate claimed MDARD’s dairy inspector was negligent in instructing the person how to apply a dangerous cleaning chemical. The case also survived an appeal claiming government immunity.
The Department of Corrections paid out $7 million between 161 cases in 2024-25.
Three of the payments were more than $1 million. One was a $2.4 million payment over allegations of discrimination and two judgments for $2.6 million and $1.3 million regarding preventable prisoner deaths and bodily injury, respectively, at the Macomb County Correctional Facility in 2022.
For the Department of Health and Human Services, $4.2 million was paid out over six settled cases.
The largest was a $3.5 million class action suit alleging that medically necessary intensive home and community-based services were not provided in a timely fashion to Medicaid-eligible children as required under federal rules. The smallest payment was $6,068 in attorney fees for a Freedom of Information Act claim.
A total of $6.8 million was paid out by the Department of Treasury. Four judgments totaling $3 million were paid out dealing with wrongful imprisonment payments. Another 19 cases totaling $3.8 million were made, which all dealt with tax foreclosure sales proceeds or other tax-related cases. None exceeded $1 million.
Wrongful imprisonment fund payments, which were $2.99 million during fiscal year 2024-25, were the lowest since $2.31 million was paid out in 2017-18, the second year of the program’s existence. After peaking at $13.1 million in payments during fiscal year 2019-20, they have fallen nearly every year.
Gongwer News Service
Michigan paid just over $38 million in lawsuit settlements and judgments during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The payout represents the lowest amount the state has paid out in at least a decade of data.
State Police accounted for the highest portion of the year's legal payouts at $15.3 million.
The state of Michigan paid more than $38 million for judgments and settlements in lawsuits against it during the 2024-25 fiscal year.
That’s less than half of what was paid out during the previous year, officials say, and the least paid out by the state in at least a decade.
A yearly report from the Senate Fiscal Agency on the status of lawsuits involving the state of Michigan released recently showed there were 221 cases in which the state released money through judgments or settlements totaling $38 million.
This was down from $82.4 million paid out by the state during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
It was the lowest payment total from the state in a fiscal year dating back to 2015-16 according to the SFA, the next-lowest being $42.2 million paid out during the 2020-21 fiscal year.
The other eight previous fiscal years have ranged from a low of $59.6 million in fiscal year 2019-20 to a high of $91.2 million in 2016-17.
Of the 221 cases resulting in payments, 205 were settlements totaling $30.9 million, and the remaining 16 were judgments totaling $7.2 million.
The Department of State Police recorded the highest amount of money paid out during fiscal year 2024-25 at $15.3 million.
A total of 16 payments were made by MSP, 13 of which were settlements and three that were $1 million or more.
The largest was $9.3 million in a case in which a State Police lieutenant and an assistant attorney general were accused of deliberately, or recklessly, disregarding the truth while pursuing sexual abuse charges against a man going through a custody dispute with his former wife.
The man was held in solitary confinement for five months. A jury awarded a verdict of $60 million against multiple local and state law enforcement agencies. The settlement only resolved the damages against the lieutenant.
Another settlement was for $3.5 million stemming from a State Police trooper stuck another vehicle with a state vehicle, killing one of the two in the other vehicle.
A third settlement was for $1.5 million to bystanders who witnessed police chases through residential neighborhoods and were injured or killed.
After not having any settlements over the previous nine years, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development paid a $3.25 million settlement in 2024-25. It was made to a decedent’s estate after the individual died from chemical exposure to hazardous chemicals while cleaning a dairy tank. The estate claimed MDARD’s dairy inspector was negligent in instructing the person how to apply a dangerous cleaning chemical. The case also survived an appeal claiming government immunity.
The Department of Corrections paid out $7 million between 161 cases in 2024-25.
Three of the payments were more than $1 million. One was a $2.4 million payment over allegations of discrimination and two judgments for $2.6 million and $1.3 million regarding preventable prisoner deaths and bodily injury, respectively, at the Macomb County Correctional Facility in 2022.
For the Department of Health and Human Services, $4.2 million was paid out over six settled cases.
The largest was a $3.5 million class action suit alleging that medically necessary intensive home and community-based services were not provided in a timely fashion to Medicaid-eligible children as required under federal rules. The smallest payment was $6,068 in attorney fees for a Freedom of Information Act claim.
A total of $6.8 million was paid out by the Department of Treasury. Four judgments totaling $3 million were paid out dealing with wrongful imprisonment payments. Another 19 cases totaling $3.8 million were made, which all dealt with tax foreclosure sales proceeds or other tax-related cases. None exceeded $1 million.
Wrongful imprisonment fund payments, which were $2.99 million during fiscal year 2024-25, were the lowest since $2.31 million was paid out in 2017-18, the second year of the program’s existence. After peaking at $13.1 million in payments during fiscal year 2019-20, they have fallen nearly every year.
