Glenn Detention Center Settlement: Lason Butler, Wellpath, $9.8M

The Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center settlement is a combined $9.8 million payout approved in March 2026 to resolve claims over the 2022 death of Lason Butler, a 27-year-old man who died of dehydration in a rat-infested cell at the Richland County, South Carolina jail. Richland County paid $3.8 million from its self-insured budget, and Wellpath, the jail’s contracted medical provider, paid $6 million through its insurers. Neither defendant admitted fault.¹²

Who Lason Butler Was

Butler was booked into the detention center on January 31, 2022, on three misdemeanor charges: reckless driving, failure to stop for blue lights, and driving with a suspended license. His mother, Lakeisha Butler, tried to pay his $1,500 bond and was told he had been placed on hold.³

His family said he was in the middle of a mental health crisis when he was arrested, and he had a pre-existing heart condition.⁴⁵ Because of erratic behavior, staff moved him into a Special Housing Unit cell. Court filings later described that cell as covered in feces, without running water, and infested with rats, flies, and gnats.⁶

How He Died

Butler spent about twelve days in that cell. Medical assessments described him as “floridly psychotic” and unresponsive. He was not eating or drinking, and his weight dropped from 257 to 215 pounds. Other inmates reportedly heard him crying for help to keep rats away.⁶³

On February 12, 2022, Butler was found dead. An autopsy attributed the death to complications of acute dehydration. His body was covered in rat bites, and a deputy coroner reported that flies and gnats flew from his mouth when the body was opened. Security video reportedly showed jail staff dropping his motionless body from a gurney to the floor.⁴⁶³

Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford ruled the death a homicide, saying Butler would be alive “but for the jail staff’s lack of action.” No criminal charges were filed against any jail staff in connection with the death.⁵⁷

The Lawsuits Behind the Settlement

In August 2022, Lakeisha Butler filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of her son’s estate in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, captioned Butler v. Richland County (Case No. 8:22-cv-02541). A separate wrongful death action was filed in the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas against Wellpath LLC.⁶

The federal case was brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The family alleged that jail officials showed “deliberate indifference” to Butler’s serious medical and mental health needs, violating the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. A second claim argued that Richland County maintained a custom or policy of unconstitutional confinement conditions, a theory drawn from Monell v. Department of Social Services.⁶

On March 24, 2025, the district court denied summary judgment to both sides. The court rejected the county’s qualified immunity defense, finding that a jury would need to decide whether the guards were “subjectively aware” of the risk Butler faced, and it held that the Monell claim also needed to go to trial. Rather than face a jury, the parties settled.⁶

How the $9.8 Million Breaks Down

U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel approved the $3.8 million Richland County settlement on March 23, 2026. The county is self-insured and paid the amount from its budget.² Of that $3.8 million, $1,520,000 went to attorney fees and $13,857.71 to litigation costs. The remainder was awarded to the estate and to Butler’s father, John Matthews.⁶

Wellpath’s $6 million share was reached in the separate state court case and paid through its insurers. Neither Richland County nor Wellpath admitted fault, and the settlement agreement barred attorneys on both sides from publicly discussing the specific amounts, though the numbers were disclosed at the court hearing.¹

Why Wellpath’s Payment Was Complicated

Wellpath filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 24-90533). At the time it was fighting more than 1,500 lawsuits over medical care in jails and prisons. The filing triggered an automatic stay on most litigation against the company and raised concerns that claimants would recover only a fraction of what they were owed.⁸

Wellpath, formerly known as Correct Care Solutions, had a troubled record. Its former CEO, Gerard “Jerry” Boyle, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to a bribery scheme used to secure jail medical contracts and was sentenced to three years in federal prison.⁹

The Jail’s Broader Record

Butler’s death was not isolated. The Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center has seen 24 inmate deaths over the past decade, with 16 of those occurring between April 2021 and July 2024. Four people died within a single 19-day stretch in July 2024. Since 2023, twenty detention officers have been arrested, eleven of them in 2024, and the facility has cycled through three directors in three years.¹⁰

The U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the jail in November 2023. Its report, released January 15, 2025, described a “culture of violence” fueled by inadequate staffing, gang activity, and widespread contraband. A 2023 state assessment had found the jail was roughly one-third staffed, needing 200 additional officers to meet minimum standards. The DOJ concluded that conditions exposed inmates to an “unreasonable risk of serious harm” and that the county had turned a “blind eye” to pervasive violence.¹¹⁷

Richland County disputed parts of the DOJ’s conclusions. Officials pointed to more than $30 million in renovations and said weapon-related assaults had dropped 82 percent between 2023 and 2024. County Administrator Leonardo Brown said the county was continuing to invest in renovations, a new jail addition, and improved training and recruitment. More than 900 inmates were awaiting trial at the facility as of early 2026.¹¹⁷

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Corrections1. $9.8M in Settlements Reached in S.C. Jail Death Lawsuit
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The State. $9.8 Million in Settlements in Lason Butler Wrongful Death Case
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WLTX. Lason Butler Lawsuit Settlement
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The State. Lason Butler Death at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center
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theGrio. Federal Lawsuit Filed in Death of Lason Butler
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Prison Legal News. $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached With South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death
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WIS TV. Richland County to Pay Nearly $4 Million Settlement Over Inmate Death at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center
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U.S. Senate (Warren). Wellpath Bankruptcy Letter
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The State. Wellpath Lawsuits in South Carolina
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The State. Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center Deaths and Conditions
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WIS TV. Federal Report Shows Richland County Turns Blind Eye to Extreme Violence at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center