Santa Clara County to increase transparency, push for disclosures on lawsuit settlements

Santa Clara County leaders are still trying to lift the curtain on how taxpayer money is used to pay for lawsuit settlements on issues such as jail deaths.

The Board of Supervisors took action to publicize such settlements last year, but reports haven’t fully delivered. Now supervisors want to include even more details for the public. They voted last month to include a brief description of county-involved settlements exceeding $1 million, the basis of the claim and whether there was an admission of liability by the county. Discussions surrounding lawsuits filed against the county — and potential settlements — are not usually scrutinized in public.