Total litigation spend for entire Consolidated City and County from 2016-2018 was $6,155,555.82. That number
includes the sorts of cases that any organization of approximately 7,500 employees would see—things like contract
disputes, employment claims, and auto accidents—and the sorts of claims specific to governments—things like
alleged police misconduct, jail-inmate lawsuits, and constitutional claims.
Comparing to previous years in Indianapolis
The first 3 years of Hogsett administration saw the Consolidated City and County’s average annual spend on
litigation go down 43% compared to the average annual spend from 2011-2015.

Comparing to other Midwestern Cities
1. Consolidated City of Indianapolis and Marion County (approx. population 870,000)
a. 2016 through 2018 total: $6,155,555.82 (average of $2,051,851.94 per year)
b. Consolidated city and county government, so total includes all City litigation and all Marion County
litigation
c. Reflects grand total for all types of claims
d. Source: Office of Finance and Management calculation
2. City of Milwaukee (approx. 2/3 the size of Indianapolis)
a. 2015 through October 2017 total: $17,500,000 (average of $6,176,470.59 per year)
i. Increases to $21.4 million when factoring in interest, fees ($7,552,941 per year)
b. Total includes only claims against City of Milwaukee, not claims involving Milwaukee County
c. Unclear if total reflects police misconduct claims only or all claims against Milwaukee
d. Source: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/2017/10/25/cost-police-misconductmilwaukee-21-million-and-growing/792428001/
3. City of Cleveland (approx. 40% the size of Indianapolis)
a. November 2014 through 2016 total: $13,200,000 (average of $6,092,307.69 per year)
b. Total includes only claims against Cleveland, not claims involving Cuyahoga County
c. Total appears to reflect only police misconduct claims, not all claims against Cleveland
d. Source: https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2017/02/the_high_cost_of_police_miscon.html
4. City of Detroit (approx. ¾ size of Indianapolis)
a. 2015 through June 2018 total: $19,100,000 (average of $5,457,142.86 per year)
b. Total includes only claims against Detroit, not claims involving Wayne County
c. Total appears to reflect only police misconduct claims, not all claims against Detroit
d. Source: https://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/police-misconduct-claims-costdetroit-taxpayers-191-million-since-2015
5. City of Chicago (approx. 3.1 times the size of Indianapolis)
a. 2016 through 2018 total: $149,947,566 (average of $49,982,522 per year)
i. Increases to $222,167,934 with legal fees ($74,055,978 per year)
b. Total includes only claims against Chicago, not claims involving Cook County
c. Total includes only police misconduct claims, not all claims against Chicago.
i. Does not even include police auto accidents, employment cases, etc.
d. Source: https://www.chicagoreporter.com/chicago-spent-more-than-113-million-on-police-misconductlawsuits-in-2018/