Jackson County has decided to settle for about a quarter of the money it sought in a lawsuit against the architect of its new county jail annex. The architect will pay $1.2 million; the county originally wanted $4.4 million, saying construction problems and design flaws caused a 97-day delay in finishing the project, and that, in turn, meant the project finished over-budget. The county still loses money on the deal. Last summer, Jackson County agreed to pay the prime contractor on the project about $1.6 million. The contractor had filed a lawsuit saying work delays drove up his costs. The litigation cost the county about one-million dollars more in legal fees.
