Tennessee County Settles Extortion Fee Class Action for $14.3M

Rutherford County located in Tennessee agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleges the county extorted money from misdemeanor offenders for $14.3 million.

Lead plaintiffs claim that the county, along with Providence Community Corrections Inc., conspired to extract money from misdemeanor probationers.

The plaintiffs allege that the county funneled misdemeanor probations cases through Providence, a private company, which used illegal and shocking practices to intimidate poor people into paying not only court costs, but private fees to the company as well.

“The private company, whose goal is to maximize its own profits, acts as a ‘probation officer’ to collect those debts as well as to assess and collect its own additional and substantial fees and surcharges through repeated and continuous threats to arrest, revoke, and imprison individuals who are indigent and disabled if they do not pay,” the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs claim that Rutherford County and Providence Corrections entered into a contract for the company to handle misdemeanors in the county using a “user funded” model where probationers are required to pay a variety of fees to the company under threat of arrest and revocation of parole status, along with regular court costs. The plaintiffs argued that this model incentivized Providence Corrections to extort fees from probationers.

The class action lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs and others have lost housing, jobs, and even suffered severe medical injuries as a result of the county and Providence Corrections’ practices. The plaintiffs say that the practices have left the poor and indignant of Rutherford County “trapped in a culture of fear and panic.”

According to the class action lawsuit, Rutherford County and Providence Corrections’ practices amounted to racketeering and also violate the U.S. Constitution and state law.

Under the terms of the settlement, a Class of nearly 30,000 Rutherford county residents will be compensated for the fees extorted by Providence Corrections. Additionally, the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit will receive $300,000.

If approved, Class Members will receive notice in the mail. Each Class Members’ award will depend on the fees they paid to Providence Corrections.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Additionally, under the terms of the class action settlement, Rutherford County will be barred from contracting with a private company for probation services. Further, misdemeanor fines and fees for impoverished Rutherford County residents will be waived per the settlement agreement.

Providence Corrections stopped providing probation services in Rutherford County in the spring of 2016 after the company was sold to a California company. The company no longer provides probationary services.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jonathan Cole, Sarah Murray, Lori H. Patterson, Kristine L. Roberts and Matthew G. White of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, and Alec Karakatsanis and Phil Telfeyan of Equal Justice Under Law.

The Rutherford County Probation Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Rodriguez, et al. v. Providence Community Corrections Inc., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-01048, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.

UPDATE: February 2018, the Rutherford County probation fee class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.