Can I sue Clark County Jail in Washington State?

If you or one of your family members was incarcerated in Clark County Jail in Washington State and were injured, whether physically or otherwise, you may have a legal claim against the County. It can be hard for an inmate to sue while they’re still in jail because of federal laws that limit lawsuits by prisoners. But once they’re released from jail, those restrictions are over. And if Clark County or its employees injured you, either themselves or by failing to stop someone else from injuring you, then you may have a legal claim.

Our attorneys represent former inmates to help them when their rights have been violated and they’ve been harmed. Below are some examples of the kinds of things that have led to other lawsuits. If anything like this has happened to you or someone you know, we may be able to help.

Excessive Force Used by Corrections Officers

If you were injured directly by a corrections officer working for Clark County Jail, you may be able to sue not only the officer, but the county itself. As an example, in a lawsuit filed in 2025, Amadi v. Cheng, a former inmate claimed that an officer “brutally slammed [her] head into a concrete wall and punched her in the back of the head.”

If something like that happened to you while in jail, it would pretty clearly be the use of excessive force. In the Amadi lawsuit, the former inmate claimed this happened because an officer pulled on her arm, causing her to spill part of a cup of Gatorade on him. The lawsuit says that Clark County knows about a pattern of excessive force like this, and even accused the county of training its officers to use excessive force on inmates.

While that lawsuit is still ongoing and those accusations haven’t been proven yet, if you personally experienced something like that in Clark County jail or any other Washington facility, you might have a legal claim.

Wrongful Death

Sometimes excessive force is so bad that an inmate isn’t just injured – they pass away. And in the case of a death that happens while you’re in the custody of a government entity, they should be held responsible if it’s their fault.

That could be because of neglect, bad conditions in the jail or prison, because of something a corrections officer did, or because of another inmate.

In a lawsuit called Singleton v. Clark County, the estate of a deceased inmate sued on behalf of their surviving family. The inmate was “a twenty-nine-year-old woman and mother of four children, who was a pretrial detainee in the Clark County Jail.” In other words, she hadn’t even been convicted of anything yet. They alleged that the inmate had been diagnosed with mental illness and had a “history of suicide threats and/or suicide attempts” that the corrections officers and nurses caring for her knew about. The lawsuit says she began showing strange behaviors, was dehydrated, and started talking about wanting to commit suicide. It claimed she refused food, lost 32% of her body weight and refused medication. It says that even though she was supposed to be treated in various ways, she wasn’t, and she passed away after weeks of neglect.

That lawsuit was settled, so we don’t know whether the accusations were true or not because they never went to a jury and were never proven. But we do know from public records that the defendants in that wrongful death case paid $2.75 million to settle.

If you’re a family member of someone who passed away in Clark County jail or in another facility, and you suspect wrongdoing, it’s worth talking to one of our attorneys about whether there’s anything we can do to help.

Medical Neglect

Even if an injury is less severe, it can still be the basis for a lawsuit if an inmate was neglected by the corrections officers, Clark County, or the nurses or doctors working for them. The County is responsible for an inmate’s health and their medical care while they’re incarcerated, and they can’t improperly deny medical care. Examples might be refusing to provide treatment or medication, ignoring health problems and letting them get worse, or even giving improper medical treatment to the inmate. If anything like that happened to you in jail, our attorneys can talk to you about whether you might have a claim.

Abusive Conduct

Sometimes corrections officers may engage in abusive conduct that’s emotionally damaging, even if not physically. That could be a broad range of things. In one lawsuit filed against Clark County in 2024, Long v. Clark County, a former inmate claimed that she was only in the Clark County Jail for a one day jail sentence. But while she was there for that day, she claimed the corrections officers used a history of trauma from ten years before that to justify stripping off her clothing to put her in what’s called a “suicide smock” to restrain her. She said that they cut off her clothing with scissors, dragged her naked in front of male inmates, and threw her to the ground, injuring her shoulder and requiring surgery. That case was dismissed by the agreement of the parties, so the accusations weren’t proven one way or the other. But if something like that happened to you while in Clark County Jail, you might have a legal claim.

Other Injuries

These are some examples of things that happen in jails and prisons all around the country, and not just in Washington State. But if something else happened to you in jail that you think the county may be responsible for, we’re happy to consider those claims, too. Contact us via phone or fill out the form on this page, and we’ll reach out to see if you have a claim.