Posted By: Heather O’Bryan      2 hrs ago

PORTLAND (AP) — A 41-year-old Thomaston woman has settled her lawsuit over an illegal strip search at the Knox County Jail for $290,000.

Laurie Tardiff originally filed a lawsuit in 2002 after being strip-searched at the Knox County Jail following her arrest for tampering with a witness, a charge that was later dismissed. She then pulled out of the class-action suit and filed another complaint on her own.

According to court documents, the settlement in the new case was reached last month just days before a jury-waived trial on damages was to have begun.

Officials say the cost of the settlement will be covered by the county’s insurance.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)