City of Austin settles 80 civil lawsuits involving APD officers

City of Austin settles lawsuits involving APD officers

Records reveal the city of Austin has paid millions in police-related lawsuits over the past five years. Some of the largest payouts stemmed from APD’s response to the 2020 George Floyd protests.

AUSTIN, Texas - Records reveal the city of Austin has paid millions in police-related lawsuits over the past five years. 

Some of the largest payouts stemmed from APD’s response to the 2020 George Floyd protests.

The backstory:

Records show the city has settled almost 80 civil lawsuits involving Austin police officers in the past five years. Those settlements range from $2,000 to $8 million, the largest ever paid by the city in an excessive force case. 

That record-breaking settlement went to Justin Howell, who was critically injured during the 2020 George Floyd protests. Howell was hit in the head by a police bean bag round, leaving him with a skull fracture, brain damage, and in a coma.

"Less lethal munitions are only less lethal by technicality," Justin Howell’s brother, Josh Howell, told FOX 7 in June 2020.

Brother of Justin Howell speaks out on use of less-lethal munitions

Around 11 p.m. on May 31, Justin Howell, a political science student, was filming a protest at Austin Police Headquarters on his cellphone.

Howell is one of at least seven protesters who received settlements tied to APD’s response to the 2020 demonstrations.

"When the people who are supposed to protect you are the ones who hurt you, and they treat you like an enemy of war, the damage is long-lasting and even borders on permanent," Attorney Jeff Edwards, representing many 2020 protesters, told FOX 7 in October 2020.

APD has since vowed to stop using the bean bag rounds.

Dig deeper:

In total, the city has paid more than $37 million in police-related lawsuit settlements over the past five years, including cases involving excessive force, wrongful death, and dozens of car wrecks.

"Settlements are not solutions, but what settlements do is offer an opportunity to the city and its policymakers to reflect on what they have been doing," Edwards told FOX 7 in May 2025.

The money comes from the city’s liability reserve fund, which city budget documents show is running low. 

Officials said higher-than-expected claim payouts are the reason, and the city may be out of compliance with its own policy through at least 2029 or 2030.