Legal payouts by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) more than doubled in fiscal year 2025, topping $7 million in judgments and settlements. Despite the increase, civil rights attorneys note that the figure remains a fraction of the department's multi-billion-dollar operating budget.
Detroit-based civil rights attorney Jon Marko, who represented one of the plaintiffs in the key lawsuits against the state, argued that the $7 million total is minimal given the scale of the agency.
"The settlement payouts for the size of the entity and its budget are very small," Marko said. "The budget of the Michigan Department of Corrections is over $2 billion. So when we're talking about a budget of that much... $7 million is a drop in the bucket."
According to state reports, the bulk of last year's payout total stemmed from three major cases.
One being Darrin Rushing v. Michigan Department of Corrections, which consisted of $2.3 million dollars. The former employee alleged disability discrimination after the department refused reasonable work accommodations following a severe inmate attack.
The other two were from fatal stabbings from 2022 at the Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township. Nearly $3.9 million was split across judgments and resolved claims arising from three separate stabbing incidents. The violent attacks left two inmates dead and another severely injured.
While MDOC’s payouts increased by nearly $3 million from the prior fiscal year, the total remains significantly lower than previous years, such as the $33.9 million paid out in fiscal years 2021–22.
Marko emphasized that because MDOC operates as a self-insured state entity rather than purchasing commercial liability coverage, paying $7 million in annual legal settlements costs taxpayers considerably less than what third-party insurance premiums would run for an agency housing thousands of inmates across dozens of facilities.
"A single lawsuit can be tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars if it's egregious enough," Marko noted, referencing a recent $300 million jury verdict against Corizon Health, a private healthcare contractor previously used by MDOC.
"So I think the taxpayers should be like, 'Hey, that's pretty good.'"
MDOC did not respond to requests for comment regarding the state report or the lawsuit settlements.
