FARGO (KFGO) - The North Dakota Supreme Court, Stutsman County and the Jamestown Police Department have agreed to make policy changes after failing to provide an interpreter for a deaf Bismarck woman following her arrest.
Christine Stein sued the court system, the county and the city of Jamestown last year. She said she was wrongfully arrested after calling 911 to report a man who was threating to kill himself. She was held in solitary confinement but the charges were later dropped.
The $90,000 settlement requires Stutsman County and Jamestown to improve their procedure for interacting with deaf and hard-of-hearing people, including annual training for law enforcement officers and on-call sign language interpreters.
Stein's attorney, Heather Gilbert, says the county and city will jointly pay $75,000 while the state court system will pay $15,000.