Adults held at the Monterey County Jail between May 27, 2016 and December 31, 2025 who filed approved claims are being paid from the $2.47 million settlement of California Forensic Medical Group’s civil contempt fines over jail health care, with a second round of checks mailed November 4, 2026. The claim deadline passed April 20, 2026.
What Happened?
The settlement administrator in Hernandez v. County of Monterey, No. 5:13-cv-02354-BLF (N.D. Cal.), mailed a second round of settlement checks to approved claimants on November 4, 2026. The first round went out September 15, 2026. The money comes from a $2,470,000 settlement of civil contempt fines owed by California Forensic Medical Group, Inc. (CFMG), the company that provided medical, mental health and dental care at the Monterey County Jail until the end of 2025. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted final approval on July 14, 2026, calling the settlement “an excellent result” for the class. Claims closed April 20, 2026.Free settlement alerts
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Who Is Being Paid?
The settlement class is all adults who were incarcerated at the Monterey County Jail from May 27, 2016, the date CFMG’s court-approved health care plan took effect, through December 31, 2025, when its contract with the county ended. The county supplied 35,979 unique records for that period. Only people who filed a valid claim by April 20, 2026 are paid: the administrator received 2,814 claims, a claim rate of about 7.8%, and estimated that 2,094 were valid. Claims came in by mail, online, through letters to the court and through jail tablets.How Much Are the Payments?
After about $146,000 in administration costs, one-third of the fund pays a baseline award to every approved claimant and two-thirds pays an extra amount for each day a claimant spent in the jail beyond the tenth day. The court’s order put the baseline at about $391 and the daily amount at about $1.95. It said the largest award was expected to be about $6,000, about a dozen claimants would receive more than $4,000, about 125 would receive $2,000 or more, and everyone else would receive between $391 and $2,000. No attorneys’ fees come out of the fund, and none of it goes back to CFMG; any money left after uncashed checks is to be redistributed to claimants or given to a charity the court selects.Those estimates are well above the “as much as $110” minimum the notice predicted, because far fewer people filed than the 35,979 in the class.
When Do the Checks Expire?
First-round checks, mailed September 15, 2026, become void after December 14, 2026. Second-round checks, mailed November 4, 2026, become void after February 2, 2027. The second round covered claimants whose payments were held for tax paperwork or an address change. The settlement website says a 1099 form was included with checks that are subject to tax reporting, and that payments may still be held for anyone whose address changed after filing and was not updated with the administrator, Kroll Settlement Administration. The official settlement website lists how to reach Kroll.Why Did CFMG Pay?
The case began in 2013, when people held at the jail sued Monterey County, the Sheriff’s Office and CFMG over health care, disability access and safety. A 2015 court-approved settlement required improvements, but in September 2023 Judge Freeman found CFMG in civil contempt for failing to meet 43 requirements covering medical, mental health and dental care, and set conditional fines of $25,000 per requirement. CFMG later conceded it could not show compliance. In 2025 the parties agreed CFMG would pay $2,470,000 to resolve all of its contempt fines through the end of its contract.The court rejected an earlier plan to send the money to a nonprofit fund, and after hundreds of current and former inmates wrote to the court asking that it go to the people held at the jail, it was distributed directly to them. In the final approval order, the court treated the payment as compensation for class members’ losses from the deficient care and overruled the objections, most of which argued the amount should be higher.
What the Settlement Does Not Cover
The settlement covers only CFMG’s contempt fines. It does not pay anyone for a personal medical condition, and it does not release or affect individual malpractice or injury claims against CFMG. The county’s own obligations under the 2015 settlement remain in place.Questions
When were the Monterey County Jail settlement checks mailed?
In two rounds. The first was mailed September 15, 2026, and those checks become void after December 14, 2026. The second round, for claimants whose payments needed tax paperwork or an address change, was mailed November 4, 2026, and those checks become void after February 2, 2027.
How much is each Monterey County Jail settlement payment?
The plan approved by the court gives every approved claimant a baseline award, estimated at about $391, plus about $1.95 for each day of incarceration beyond the tenth day between May 27, 2016 and December 31, 2025. The court’s order says the largest award was expected to be about $6,000 and that about 125 claimants would receive $2,000 or more. Final amounts are set by the administrator.
Can I still file a claim in the Monterey County Jail settlement?
No. The claim deadline was April 20, 2026, and the settlement website says it has passed. The court’s January 2026 order allowed for additional claim periods only by a further court order, and none has been announced.
What if my Monterey County Jail settlement check never arrived?
The settlement website says payments may have been held for claimants whose address changed after they filed and who did not update it with the administrator, Kroll Settlement Administration. Contact options are listed on the official settlement website.
Does the Monterey County Jail settlement affect medical malpractice claims?
No. The settlement resolves only California Forensic Medical Group’s civil contempt fines for violating court orders about jail health care. It does not compensate anyone for a personal medical condition and does not release individual malpractice or injury claims.
Official Settlement Documents
Sources
- Official Monterey County Jail settlement website (Kroll Settlement Administration), payment updates of Sept. 15 and Nov. 9, 2026
- Order Granting Final Approval of Settlement of CFMG’s Civil Contempt Liability, Hernandez v. County of Monterey, No. 5:13-cv-02354-BLF (N.D. Cal. July 14, 2026), ECF No. 1324
- Order Approving Amount of CFMG Civil Contempt Liability Settlement, Notice and Claim Form (N.D. Cal. Jan. 26, 2026), ECF No. 1288
- Proposed Settlement of CFMG Civil Contempt Liability (Dec. 18, 2025), ECF No. 1257-1, and the court-approved notice and claim form
