Welcome to the San Bernardino County Jail
Class Action Settlement Website
This lawsuit involved the former policy and/or practice of the San Bernardino County Jail of strip searching the following categories of inmates without reasonable suspicion that they possessed weapons, drugs or contraband: 1) arrestees who were transferred from a local jail to a main jail before they were arraigned, 2) federal inmates who were transferred to the San Bernardino County Jail, 3) inmates transferred from another jail to San Bernardino County to be arraigned on charges there, and 4) inmates who had appeared in court and became entitled to release after their appearance. The Class Period for the above categories is May 3, 2003 through December 11, 2006. In addition, it involves inmates of the San Bernardino County Jail who do not fit into the above categories but were strip searched in a group rather than individually. The Class Period for this category is May 3, 2003 through March 7, 2007.
Update: Under the original terms of the Settlement, Class Members who cashed their First Round settlement award checks were eligible to receive a Second Round distribution of settlement funds. However, as a result of later court rulings, there are no longer funds available for a Second Round distribution, and none will be made.
The reason for this is that the Court re-opened the filing period to allow Class Members who may not have received the initial Class Notice and claim Form the opportunity to file claims. Due to the high volume of claims under this decision, and the relatively small amount of remaining funds, the Court has ordered that the limited remaining settlement funds all be used to pay these additional Class Members. For more information, see the answer to FAQ #14.
To contact the Settlement Administrator toll-free call 1-888-271-6718.
This site provides the following information:
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