Years-old jail lawsuit against Monroe County nearing end, but ACLU signals potential new case based on current conditions

An agreement settling a 2008 lawsuit against Monroe County officials, about unconstitutionally overcrowded conditions at the jail, looks like it will be extended another 90 days, from the current expiration date on Jan. 15, 2026.

But after that, the lawsuit will be dismissed—which raises the possibility of a new lawsuit based on current conditions.

The 90-day extension of the current settlement agreement is the point of a joint motion filed in federal court on Wednesday (Jan. 7) by the ACLU and Monroe County lawyers. It is pending approval by the judge.

The settlement agreement had been given an annual extension, by joint agreement, for several years—most recently at the end of 2024.

But in a letter to the county legal department two days before the end of 2025, attorney for the ACLU, Ken Falk, expressed skepticism that the situation underlying the 2008 lawsuit is anywhere close to getting resolved. He put it like this: “We are no closer to resolving the continuing problems at the Monroe County Jail than when we entered into the PSA [private settlement agreement] in 2009.”

Falk’s Dec. 30, 2025 letter continues: “Therefore, I do not think it is appropriate for me, as class counsel, to ignore this fact by blindly agreeing to another year extension as I have no illusion that anything will happen in the next 12 months.”

A dismissal of a lawsuit can generally be analyzed as good for the defendant. But in this case, it opens the door to fresh litigation that could eventually lead to a mandate from a federal court to construct a new jail on the court’s own terms.

The specter of fresh litigation was raised in Falk’s Dec. 30 letter in its closing paragraph: “As you know, paragraph 24 of the PSA [private settlement agreement] states that once it is dismissed ‘nothing precludes a future class action brought after this time by a current prisoner at the Monroe County Jail.’ I hope that such future action is not necessary.”

Falk’s skepticism that any progress would be made in the near future to construct a new jail appears to have been fueled by an unanimous vote by the county council in last October last year. The county council denied the funding that was required to purchase the North Park property, which was the planned location for a new justice complex with a working budget of $225 million.

In his Dec. 30 letter, Falk points out that the most recent extension of the settlement agreement included a statement that “[a] new facility is going to be built.” Falk’s letter points out that the claim a new facility would be built relied on the fact that a purchase agreement was in place for the land where it would be built.

Falk’s letter connects the dots between his skepticism and the council’s vote against the appropriation needed to execute the purchase agreement: “Of course, recent events indicate that the statement in this last report simply is not true.”

In his Dec. 30 letter, to establish the ongoing problems with conditions at the jail, Falk leans on a study by RQAW Corporation, a separate study by RJS Justice Services, a September 2024 email from Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté, and a briefing from Marté before a Nov. 25, 2025 tour of the jail by Falk.

In his Dec. 30 letter, Falk praises the efforts that Marté has made to address conditions at the jail, since he took office in January 2023. A month into his term, Marté delivered a public presentation on the horrific conditions confronting him at the jail.

In his letter, Falk says: “[T]he Sheriff has done an admirable job in trying to keep the prisoners protected from the various inadequacies in the jail, none of them attributable to the Sheriff or his staff.”

But Falk’s letter continues: “But as everyone concurs, this is a facility that has long outlived its useful life and that is currently dangerous in numerous respects.”

The reaction from president of the board of county commissioners, Julie Thomas, to the county council’s late October vote to reject funding for the purchase of North park, was in part: “Ball’s in your court, council!”

Reached by The B Square on Thursday, council president Jennifer Crossley said by text message, “[T]ime is of the essence since we are only being granted the 90 days.” She said the biggest thing the council needs to agree on is a location.

Crossley continued, “I think we need to start seriously looking at land [that] the county already owns for cost savings or other properties adjacent to downtown.” One piece of county owned property that was given consideration, but ultimately rejected, was the Thomson property, off Rogers Street.

Crossley wrapped up by saying, “A location is what we need to focus on ...” She added, “We as a council have to be on one accord with this as well as the commissioners and we need to do this sooner rather than later.”