City of Atlanta settlement payouts cost $25.8M over two years

HOW WE REPORTED THIS STORY: The Atlanta City Council votes on settlement payments during its regular meetings. The Atlanta Community Press Collective (ACPC) created a database of every settlement starting from July 1, 2023, to present by going through every city council agenda created during that period. Individual departments were typically listed on the agenda items, allowing for settlements to be broken down by department. For some settlements, departments were not listed. In those cases, ACPC used details within the settlement to code it to the relevant department. If no department could be identified, ACPC assigned the settlement to an “NA” category as listed in the agenda.

The city of Atlanta paid out $25.87 million total in 459 taxpayer-funded settlements for fiscal years 2024 and 2025—between July 1, 2023, and June 31, 2025—according to data compiled by the Atlanta Community Press Collective.

The settlements were for incidents dating back to 2016.

In all, the city paid $15.43 million in FY24 and $10.44 million in FY25. For reference, the city paid out $12.9 million in settlements for FY23, according to the AJC.

Incidents involving the Atlanta Police Department (APD) accounted for over half the cost of all city settlements, at $16 million over the two years. Of that, $13 million went to settling alleged excessive force and constitutional rights violations.

Large APD settlements included:

$3.8 million to the family of Deacon Johnny Hollman, 68, who was tasered and killed by an APD officer during a routine traffic accident investigation in 2023.

$3.75 million to the family of Ricardo Dorado, Jr., 33, who died of cardiac arrest after officers held him on the ground in a prone position for 15 minutes in 2022.

$2 million to Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim for their tasing and arrest near a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.

$1.5 million to Keith Sylvester, who was wrongfully arrested and spent 15 months in jail on murder and arson charges after an APD detective left out exculpatory evidence on a warrant affidavit in 2018.

$1.475 million to the family of D’Ettrick Griffin, 18, who was shot and killed by an APD officer in 2019.

$400,000 to the family of Deaundre Phillips, 24, who was shot and killed by an APD officer in 2017.

$300,000 to the family of Gemini Jerome Jackson, Jr., the 27, who was killed when his vehicle was struck by a driver fleeing APD.

There are at least 11 federal lawsuits currently pending against APD or its officers for excessive force or constitutional rights violations.

Vehicle accidents the most commonly settled claim across all departments

Vehicle accidents were the most frequent settlement cause and the second costliest category, with 189 settlements costing $5.5 million. APD accounted for a third of the total number of vehicle accidents and over half the total cost, with $3.2 million in 67 settlements. The Department of Public Works, which is responsible for the city’s sanitation infrastructure, and the Department of Watershed Management had the second and third highest number of vehicle accident settlements, with 27.8% and 16.6% respectively.

Watershed had the highest number of individual settlements overall and the second-highest total cost, with 199 claims costing $4.34 million. Those settlements largely related to injuries or property damage from displaced water meter covers or manholes, sewer backups, stormwater flooding and water main breaks.

Employment discrimination-related or wrongful termination lawsuits were the third costliest category of payouts. The city spent $2.1 million to settle nine such matters. There are currently at least 10 employment-related lawsuits against the city pending in federal court.

Hiring outside counsel to settle out-of-court costs taxpayers millions

Financial payouts are not the only cost of settlements. During a presentation to the Public Safety & Legal Administration Committee meeting on July 14, City Attorney Patrise Perkins-Hooker said the city spent nearly $20 million on outside attorneys in FY24 and FY25. Just under half of the City’s pending litigation matters have been outsourced to outside counsel, according to the city attorney’s presentation.

The city attorney said her office investigates every claim to determine whether to settle. Claims can be initiated either by submitting a claim form within six months of the incident or by filing legal action in state or federal court.

The investigation process can take months, though city attorneys have done a better job of closing settlements faster over the past two years. In October 2023, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the city had 1,361 open matters. As of March 31, 2025, the city attorney said, the city’s Litigation Division had 287 open matters. 103 of those matters were opened between Jan. 1, 2025, and March 31, 2025. Perkins-Hooker said her office is currently working through 2024 matters and expects to be caught up to 2025 by the end of July.