By Dawn Burleigh

The Orange Leader

 

Orange County Judge Stephen ‘Brint’ Carlton announced the court will hold a Town Hall meeting concerning the Montano case. In January, the county agreed to pay $3.175 million awarded to the family in the lawsuit fled after his death inside the Orange County Correctional Facility on Oct. 12, 2011.

Carlton said at the time, there would be a more in-depth statement would be issued after final payment.

The court had authorized a final payment on or before February 15.

“Many questions have been asked by citizens and the media for years regarding this case and Orange County has been unable to provide many details due to “ongoing litigation,” Carlton wrote in an email. “Now, the litigation is over.”

The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m., Mon. Feb. 27, at Orange County Convention and Expo Center located on 11475 F.M. 1442 in Orange.

Among the topics to be discussed are why the county made the legal decisions it did, and what changes have made to policies going forward.

Montano, 41, of Orangefield, was arrested on Oct. 7, 2011 by Orange County deputies for public intoxication. He was reportedly under the influence of bath salts according to a previously published Orange Leader article.

Montano was placed in a medical observation cell for five days until his death, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states Montano, who was a known mental health patient, did not receive ‘basic human needs’ consisting of medical and mental health care, food or water during his incarceration.