Warren Co. may appeal $4.8 million judgment
Wednesday, April 8, 1998BY KYM LIEBLER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- Warren County commissioners may appeal Friday's $4.8 million jury award against the county for an accident that killed a Franklin Township family.
P. Fedders
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"We're leaning that way," Commissioner Pat Arnold South said Tuesday before the three-member board met privately with Columbus lawyer Steven Laforge to discuss an appeal. "A decision has not been made."
Commissioners said they will make a decision after the April 15 post-verdict hearing before Warren County Common Pleas Judge P. Daniel Fedders.
Commissioners are questioning the interpretation of a state law that requires counties to erect guardrails along unprotected riverbanks.
There was no guardrail on Dayton-Oxford Road when the January 1995, accident occurred, killing the Rev. David Hensley, 37, his wife, Sandra, 36, and their children, Alisha, 13, and Brian, 8. The entire family drowned when their car skidded on ice and plunged into the river.
The lawyer who represented David Hensley's parents, Henry and Opal Hensley, and Sandra's parents, Eugene and Mabel Lane, in the civil lawsuit pointed out that the multimillion judgment climbs by $1,370 a day in interest costs.
"I hope they understand they'll be paying 10 percent interest at a rate of $500,000 a year," Franklin lawyer James Ruppert said. "I see no error of any significance that would warrant an appeal." Barring an appeal, commissioners said they will dip into the county's general fund to cover most of the judgment.
Although the county has general liability insurance through a statewide program called CORSA (County Risk Sharing Authority), that covered only $1 million of individual claims filed against the county in 1995. Another $500,000 will be paid from a fund earmarked for lawsuits.
As of Tuesday, there was $7.8 million of unencumbered monies in the county's general fund, according to Tiffany Sauer, director of management and budgets.
The county carried more than $8 million in cash from 1997 to its 1998 budget.
"If we have to, and if it comes down to it, we can rise to the occasion on this court decision . . . without putting our financial operations in distress," county Administrator Bob Price said.
Meanwhile, the county intends to increase its insurance, which covers public officials' actions, auto accidents and property lawsuits, from $2 million to $6 million on May 1. Last year, the county hiked its insurance limit from $1 million to $2 million because the cost of premiums dropped, said C. Michael Kilburn, president of the Board of Commissioners.
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