Sandra Bland's Family Will Get $1.9M

The Texas jail where Sandra Bland died must adopt new procedures as part of a $1.9 million settlement of a wrongful death suit. Bland's family will accept $1.8 million from the Waller County Jail and $100,000 from the Texas Department of Public Safety, reports KTRK. The deal reached Wednesday also requires the jail to have a nurse present for all shifts and use automated electronic sensors to ensure jail cells are checked regularly, reports CNN. A judge will also seek "passage of state legislation for more funding for local jails regarding intake and booking, screening, and other jail support," says Bland family attorney Cannon Lambert. Any legislation passed will be named for Bland, her mother adds.

Bland was found dead in her Waller County jail cell in July 2015, three days after she was pulled over for not using a turn signal. A medical examiner determined she hanged herself with a garbage bag—a finding backed by an FBI investigation—but her family disagrees. A jail report revealed no guard had checked on Bland for nearly two hours before she was found dead, though Bland told officers she had previously attempted suicide. Lambert said a guard testified that he logged a check on Bland that he didn't actually make, per the Dallas Morning News. The officer who arrested Bland, whom he described as "combative," was fired in March after he was indicted on a perjury charge; he pleaded not guilty in May. (More Sandra Bland stories.)