The family of the young man who died in Island County jail April 7 has settled with three counties for $4 million.

Under the terms of the mediated settlement, a jail expert who conducted an audit of the facility will continue monitoring implementation of his recommendations over the next 18 months.

The settlement involves Island, Skagit and San Juan counties. Keaton Farris, 25, was transferred to several different jails in the three counties after being picked up on a warrant for identify theft in Lynnwood. He passed away from dehydration at the Island County jail.

The settlement was agreed to by the Farris family and the Washington Counties Risk Pool. The county has a $50,000 deductible. The risk pool will pay the rest, according to county Budget Director Elaine Marlow.

Farris, who was going through a mental health crisis, also was held in jails in Snohomish County, but that county is not part of the risk pool or the settlement.

Coupeville resident Fred Farris and many of his son’s family members and friends held powerful and emotional protests in the wake of the tragedy, calling for reform or even the closure of the jail.

The family filed a tort for damages in Island County earlier this year.

Earlier this year, Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said that “catastrophic systemic failures” led to the death. A detective’s investigation of the tragedy outlines a series of oversights, policy problems and acts of negligence.

Thursday, Brown emphasized that his office and the county as a whole have taken steps to reform the jail and make it as safe as possible for inmates and staff.

“I know mistakes were made,” he said. “I think it’s incumbent on anyone in this office to acknowledge that, to figure out what went wrong and to fix the problems and move on.”

He said he has “no problem” with the ongoing monitoring by Phil Stanley, the corrections expert who audited the jail and came up with a series of recommendations — most of which had already been implemented.

“I believe in being as transparent as possible,” he said.

Brown recently hired Jose Briones as the new jail chief; Briones comes from the Monroe Correctional Complex, where he oversees prisoners with serious mental health issues.

The county has changed the way in which inmates receive medical and mental-health treatment, increasing staffing and adjusting policies.

County commissioners approved a budget that increases funding to the jail by $700,000 next year, Marlow said. That includes three new positions.

Two corrections deputies who falsified logs were placed on leave and then resigned. A lieutenant was fired. The jail chief at the time was suspended and then resigned.

A report by Detective Ed Wallace with the sheriff’s office outlines the complicated series of events led to Farris’ death.

Farris was suffering from mental health issues and had been both combative and non-responsive with jail staff in three different counties, Wallace wrote.

At the Island County jail, corrections deputies cut off the water to Farris’ cell for days because he put a pillow in the toilet at one point and later flooded his cell. He was given water during his meals but it was only a fraction of what was necessary to survive. The staff did not check on him as often as protocol dictated. The logs didn’t include necessary information and observations.

Medical staff wasn’t called to examine Farris until the day before he died and the nurse didn’t relate any concerns to jail staff. Farris’ body wasn’t found until hours after his death.