Rural Missouri County Still Paying the Price for Rogue Sheriff
Long after he was forced out of office and sent to federal prison, the bills from ex-Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson's reign keep coming — and they're not cheap.
Attorneys for the county in the Bootheel of Missouri filed a motion on Wednesday in hopes of capping the latest settlement — tied to a wrongful death suit brought by the family of Tory Sanders — at $2 million.
Sanders died in 2017 in the county jail after Hutcheson and a crew of jailers dogpiled on top of him, kneeling on him at times in a case that drew new attention last summer following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, following the lead of his predecessor Josh Hawley, reviewed the case and declined to file criminal charges against Hutcheson. But the civil lawsuit continues. If a federal judge agrees to the $2 million proposal, the county will likely save some money. The family is seeking $3.5 million in addition to the $500,000 that the city of Charleston (where Hutcheson ran a notorious jail) has already agreed to pay in Sanders' death.
Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2021/04/29/rural-missouri-county-still-paying-the-price-for-rogue-sheriff
The story about Hutcheson's crimes is here:
Sheriff Cory Hutcheson Vowed to Clean Up His Rural Missouri County. Now He's the One Facing Prison
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/sheriff-cory-hutcheson/Content?oid=4857359