Williamson County approves $1.25 million to settle lawsuit involving jail inmate death

The Williamson County commissioners have approved $1.25 million to settle a federal lawsuit that claimed a jail inmate's suicide was preventable. The settlement on Tuesday involved the death of 37-year-old Joshua McNatt in 2021.

McNatt was booked into the Williamson County Jail on April 9, 2021, on a charge of assault involving a family member, according to jail records. A Texas Commission on Jail Standards form completed when he was booked indicating he was suicidal, according to the lawsuit filed by McNatt's mother against the county and three jailers.

An information sheet from the Williamson County magistrate's office listed McNatt's known mental health problems, including paranoid schizophrenia, anxiety and depression, the lawsuit said. A mental health official also did a court-ordered assessment on McNatt while he was in jail that said he was suicidal, according to the document. McNatt had been prescribed medications for his mental health illnesses but was not given those medications while he was in custody, the lawsuit said.

He was on suicide watch at the jail on April 12, 2021, when an officer dropped off a bag of towels, a sheet and a blanket to him, according to the lawsuit.

It said that about 18 minutes after the jailer dropped off the supplies, officers did their next suicide watch check of McNatt's cell. He was found hanging, the lawsuit said. "Leaving Josh, who was undisputedly suicidal, in a cell with tie-off points and items with which he could form a ligature, was a violation of every known jail standard as well as clearly established law," the lawsuit said.

McNatt was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to a news release from the Williamson County sheriff's office at the time. The sheriff's office released him from custody two days after he was taken to the hospital so his family could decide on his future care, the release said.

"However, upon information and belief, the true motive was to avoid the County's liability for Josh's medical expenses," the lawsuit said. It said McNatt died at the hospital on April 22, 2021.

The county filed a custodial death report with the Texas attorney general that said McNatt's cause of death was suicide by hanging, according to the lawsuit.

Williamson County will pay $355,320 of the $1.25 million settlement with the rest paid by the county's insurance carriers, said Connie Odom, a county spokeswoman.

The county has settled at least two other lawsuits involving jail inmate deaths in the past few years. Williamson County commissioners agreed to pay $500,000 in October 2022 to settle a federal lawsuit involving the death of jail inmate Patrick Dupre. He was on suicide watch when he was put in a cell with a bed sheet that he used to try to kill himself on May 12, 2019, according to the lawsuit. He died of his injuries the next month, it said.

In April 2021, the commissioners approved a $1.6 million settlement involving the 2018 death of mentally ill inmate Daniel McCoy. The lawsuit claimed that McCoy, 24, died after being denied medical help when he became violently sick at the Williamson County Jail.

Williamson County Sheriff Mike Gleason declined to comment on Wednesday on whether jail practices had changed, saying he had not yet received a brief on the settlement from the Commissioners Court or the county's legal counsel.