Just as the costs were mounting to defend Butler County in federal court over litigation related to the construction of the county jail, a 12-hour mediation session yielded a settlement that spares all claims and any additional costs.

"The county is very pleased," said solicitor Julie Graham, who prepared an explanation of the agreement.

Essentially, each of the parties in the litigation were seeking financial damages in the millions of dollars. Under the terms of the agreement reached Sept. 1, the county will pay no claims, and all claims against it will be dropped. Additionally, the county will retain all payments, totaling about $6.5 million, made by the bonding company and an additional $229,000 from the county's bonding company. Presumably, the payment defrays the more than half-million dollars the county spent to defend its claims in the litigation.

The parties in the two lawsuits were the county; A.G. Cullen Construction of Sharpsburg, the former prime contractor on the prison project; and Travelers Casualty and Surety from Hartford, Conn. The mediation session was conducted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell in Pittsburgh.

County commissioners are expected to vote on the settlement at a public meeting Sept. 22 in the county government center in Butler.

The litigation stemmed from December 2007, when Cullen employees walked off the prison construction job over scheduling and payment conflicts. The county blamed poor planning by Cullen for the delays. Cullen countered that the county ultimately was at fault.

Recently, county commissioners agreed to hire a consulting firm to provide independent expertise in the lawsuits. The bills for the firm would have amounted to thousands of dollars: from a low of $45 an hour for clerical work to $175 an hour for the opinions of the firm's CEO.

The $6.5 million that the county will retain from Travelers includes cost overruns and liquidated damages Travelers had paid to complete the prison project after Cullen walked off the job. A replacement prime contractor was hired, and the $35 million, 512-bed facility opened in July 2009. It was to have opened in October 2007.

The only remaining litigation stemming from the prison will be claims by other contractors -- Clista Electric Inc. and Enders Plumbing and Heating Co. Inc. -- against Travelers for delays related to the project. The county already had secured completed releases from Clista and Enders and has no liability in that remaining case.

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