CANYON COUNTY — Canyon County commissioners agreed Thursday to pay $190,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union to settle claims for legal fees stemming from jail litigation.

Deputy prosecuting attorney Carl Ericson and Commissioner Steve Rule recently attended a mediation session to discuss the matter.

"From a legal standpoint, there is little doubt, in fact no doubt in my mind, that they are entitled to attorney fees," Ericson said.

County officials had initially argued the ACLU was asking too much, but Rule suggested commissioners agree to the settlement, saying he feared taking the matter to court would expose taxpayers to additional risk.

"I'm not comfortable with it, I'm not pleased with it, but it was thoroughly explained to me" that challenging the ACLU's claim in court would be a risky undertaking, Rule said.

If a settlement had not been reached Thursday, the ACLU would immediately begin adding additional expenses to its claim, he said.

"We have to have an agreement on the $190,000 settlement today, or any additional expenses will be added to our bill," he said. "If we don't accept the $190,000 today, $226,000 is probably the next number we're looking at."

Rule said a suggestion of a $150,000 settlement during mediation was met by the organization with a $226,000 counteroffer.

If the county pressed the matter and lost in court, the total cost could reach $270,000, he said.

Ericson said the ACLU initially requested $193,000, but had revised its claim to about $215,000.

A class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of jail inmates was settled by a consent decree approved by a judge Nov. 12. The agreement places a cap on inmate population in the county's main jail building and requires maintenance and repair work and other changes.