Deschutes County Reaches Settlement with Estate of Edwin Burl Mays, III

Deschutes County has reached a settlement with the Estate of Edwin Burl Mays, III.  Mr. Mays died of a drug overdose in December 2014 while incarcerated at the Deschutes County Jail. 

The County and its insurance company agreed that the $1,025,000 settlement is in the best interest of all parties in order to avoid a lengthy jury trial. The County will pay $700,000 of the settlement from its Risk Management Fund; the remainder of the settlement will be paid by the County’s insurance company.

This agreement is not an acknowledgement of liability or wrongdoing – a fact confirmed by the Oregon Department of Justice’s investigation and also by the terms of the settlement agreement which provides that the County and the individual defendants expressly deny responsibility for the unfortunate death of Mr. Mays.

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