Rutherford County is back in court over juvenile arrests, now fighting insurer to cover its payouts

Rutherford County is suing its insurance provider for refusing to cover its settlement in a large class action lawsuit over its unlawful policies for arresting and detaining children.

The county’s complaint alleges that Lloyd’s of London, its provider, hasn’t covered it for costs after settling the lawsuit in 2021. Lloyd’s did not respond to a request for comment.

The county was sued over its juvenile court polices, which led to more than a thousand children being illegally arrested and jailed.

The county’s new filing, in federal court, does not specify the reason for Lloyd’s coverage denial. But WPLN News obtained that denial letter through a records request. In it, Lloyd’s writes that the company believes the county knew about the problems prior to coverage and “concealed or misrepresented material facts”; therefore, the policy is void.

Rutherford County is suing on three counts, including breach of contract. It is asking to be made whole for its costs, including more than $5 million it paid out, attorney’s fees, damages, interest and a 25% penalty fee, among others.

What this means, for now, is that Rutherford County has used taxpayer money to foot the bill for the settlement, when it expected to be covered by insurance.  

Last year, Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica published a detailed account about Rutherford County’s juvenile justice system. The story chronicled how the county had illegally arrested and jailed children for years, all under the watch of former Judge Donna Scott Davenport. Last year, the county settled the class action lawsuit, eventually agreeing to pay more than $5 million to hundreds of people who were arrested or jailed as children. Shortly after, Davenport announced her retirement. Since then the county has elected a new juvenile court judge, Travis Lampley.

Within Tennessee, Rutherford County stood out for years in terms of the percentage of kids it locked up in cases referred to juvenile court. In 2014, for example, the county jailed children in 48% of those cases. The statewide average was 5%.

Many children were placed in solitary confinement under conditions that a federal judge called inhumane.

State lawmakers called the system a “nightmare” and “unchecked barbarism.” The state’s governor called for a judicial review. And 11 members of Congress signed a letter asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the county’s juvenile justice system.