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Garfield County has paid nearly $570,000 in outside attorney fees to defend a lawsuit alleging prisoners at the county jail have been subjected to excessive force.
The lawsuit, which hasn’t gone to trial yet, was filed in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union.
It alleges prisoners have been improperly shot with Tasers, pepper-ball guns and pepper spray; placed in restraint chairs; denied mental-health care; and punished without due process.
Sheriff Lou Vallario denies prisoners have been mistreated .
The case is a class-action lawsuit and has required numerous interviews and records searches.
