Arkansas County and the health care provider will settle for $6 million over the inmate’s death

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A western Arkansas county and a health care provider have agreed to a $6 million settlement with the family of a man who died of dehydration and malnutrition while incarcerated in a local jail, a family lawyer said.

Sebastian County and Turn Key Health Clinics LLC have each agreed to pay $3 million to the family of Larry Eugene Price Jr. to settle a lawsuit filed over Price’s death in 2021, attorney Erik Heipt said in a news release.

“The size of this settlement reflects the scale of the atrocity that took place,” Heipt said. “We were honored to represent Mr. Price’s family in their pursuit of justice, and we hope this historic outcome sends a strong message to every jail and prison in America that this type of blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated.”

A Turn Key spokesman confirmed it had agreed to the deal. The Sebastian County quorum voted to settle the lawsuit last month. An attorney for the county did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Price died after being held for just over a year at the facility, awaiting trial on a terroristic threat charge. Price, 51, who had a history of serious mental illness, had been held in isolation at the county facility, according to the lawsuit filed by his family last year.

The lawsuit against Sebastian County accused the jail and Turn Key of neglecting Price as he ate and drank less over the course of a year and his weight dropped from 185 pounds (83.91 kilograms) to 90 of pounds (40.82 kilograms).

Jail staff discontinued Price’s mental health medication after he refused to take it and made no effort to follow up with the inmate to address his mental health needs, the lawsuit states.

Turn Key said in a statement that at the time of Price’s death, it provided medical care and eight hours of psychiatric services a week, but no counseling or acute mental health counseling services. It said the center contracted with the county to provide mental health counseling services failed to do so with Price.

“After Mr. Price’s death, Turn Key and Sebastian County agreed that having a different mental health counseling provider than the medical and psychiatric provider at the jail was not in the best interest of patients at SCDC,” spokeswoman Kenna Griffin said. “Turn Key now provides all medical, mental health counseling and psychiatric services in Sebastian County.”

Rodney Price, Larry Price’s brother, called his brother’s death “inexcusable” but hoped the case and settlement would lead to changes in the criminal justice system.

“While no amount of money could bring my brother back, this win will help our family find closure as we move forward,” Rodney Price said in a statement. “And we hope and pray that it will lead to changes in the way our prisons treat people in their custody and save lives in the future.”

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