For the father of a young man who died in Island County jail, a three-county settlement for $4 million really wasn’t about the money. It was about what the money says, the acknowledgement of unconscionable negligence, Coupeville resident Fred Farris explained.
But even more important, Fred Farris said, is a term in the mediated settlement under which a jail expert who conducted an audit of the facility will continue monitoring implementation of his recommendations over the next 18 months.