A lawsuit brought on following the death of a Dunkirk man in the county jail may soon be settled.

The Chautauqua County Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee is backing a Settlement of Claim for the Estate of Gregory Gallaway. The amount is for $132,500, of which half would be paid by the county’s insurance carrier.

Gallaway, who was dealing with a narcotics problem, died while incarcerated at the Chautauqua County Jail on April 11, 2019 a day after he turned himself in. Allegedly, Gallaway was involved with the Dunkirk City Drug Court and turned himself in after realizing he was going to fail an upcoming drug test.

Chautauqua County Attorney Ana Morgan said the full settlement amount is $170,000. While the county and its insurance is covering $132,500, the $37,500 balance will be paid by the city of Dunkirk, which is a co-defendant.

The county’s $66,250 would come from its reserves.

A cause of death was not announced previously, nor did Morgan state at the committee meeting how Gallaway died.

Morgan did say an investigation has taken place, involving expert witnesses but didn’t offer much else.

“I’m going to stop here, not to get into the things that may be protected by attorney-client privilege or sensitive in this area,” she said.

A 2019 news release stated that there was no suspicion of foul play and that the state Commission of Corrections had been notified.

Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, said because the settlement amount is being recommended by the county’s Legal Department, he supports it.

“We don’t need to know all the particulars,” he said.

The full county legislature must give its approval for the agreement to be authorized. The legislature will vote on this at its meeting May 28.