LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — In January, we revealed that the State of Nevada had paid nearly a million dollars to settle three lawsuits filed by inmates.
In the wake of that story, several viewers reached out to ask Darcy, What's The Deal with my tax dollars being used to pay for problems in prisons that the state should be avoiding?
WATCH| Darcy Spears has the latest on inmate lawsuit payouts
That million-dollar payout is just the tip of the iceberg. The lawsuits are part of a category of claims called torts, which include cases filed against other state agencies for a variety of reasons.
"The term tort can refer to a lot of different things," said attorney Christina Valentine, of Lagomarsino Law, which handles some of those cases. "Personal injury is probably the most general way to explain it. So it covers a car accident, slip and fall negligence ... When we're talking about it in reference to the tort fund in Nevada, we're actually talking about something broader than just torts. It includes constitutional claims and federal claims that might come under a different statute."
She also explained that some of those cases can take years to wrap up.
"A lot of the payments that are being made now are actually due to losses that occurred, sometimes, 10 years ago," Valentine said. "Because litigation, especially in these inmate prison cases, can take so long, what we're paying out today is oftentimes due to injuries that occurred back in 2016, 2017, 2018."
We filed a public records request for settled lawsuits against the NDOC last July. The state kept delaying our request. It ultimately took six months before the Attorney General's Office finally provided records in late January.
We combed through over 200 pages to find out What's The Deal with how much these cases are costing taxpayers.
In 2022, NDOC settled 38 claims totaling $332,138.95
In 2023, that number skyrocketed to 53 cases settled for $4,736,599.19
In 2024, the numbers went up again — 61 claims totaling $6,366,441.82.
We're still waiting on last year's numbers because not all of the 2025 cases have been settled or had their dollar amounts approved by the State Board of Examiners. We do know that of the ones that have, the cost to taxpayers is already higher than the previous three years.
One of those cases was filed against the NDOC by the family of Christian Walker, who claimed that prison guards beat him to death. The Walker family received the largest wrongful death payout in state history — $4.6 million.
The money comes out of the state tort claims fund and budget records show the Attorney General's Office keeps asking for more. With larger lawsuit settlements, the fund is running dry. State law prevents lawmakers from directing more money to the tort claims fund. It has to be allocated during a legislative session.
"We've had some pretty heavy claims and that's why they're coming out of the statutory contingency," Tiffany Greenameyer, the Director of the Governor's Office of Finance, told the State Board of Examiners last month. "I believe the tort claim, I don't have the balance in front of me, is, I want to say, it's like $400,000 remaining for claims."
Our review of public records shows some of the lawsuits could likely be avoided as one issue crops up again and again — inmates claiming they're not getting appropriate or adequate medical care.
"If we can get in place more preventative measures in these prisons, preventative care that prevents these catastrophic injuries from happening, I think that would be a great, more fiscally responsible way to manage the state's money," Valentine said.
It's something that Gov. Lombardo has also been pushing for.
"When you look at the previous tort reform or the tort awards, usually it is specific to medical care," Lombardo said during a January Board of Examiners meeting. "So I would request that you become more proactive."
We'll be watching to see if NDOC does better. The next Board of Examiners meeting is on Wednesday.
