People wrongly arrested due to software errors could get $2,800 in NC settlement

Virginia Bridges, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Oct 26, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — A proposed class-action settlement filed in federal court Monday would set aside up to $1.5 million to compensate people who were wrongly arrested or held in jail too long because of errors in software designed to bring North Carolina’s paper-based court system into the digital age.

The proposed settlement would need to be approved by a federal judge and meet other requirements, including the expiration of appeal deadlines, according to court documents.

In May 2023, a handful of plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in North Carolina’s federal Middle District, contending that software developed by Texas-based Tyler Technologies to digitize the state’s court system contained errors that resulted in people being arrested on invalid warrants or held in jail longer than they should have been.

Nine people from across the state who say they were wrongly arrested or detained because of problems with the new eCourts system are named as plaintiffs in the proposed settlement.

The named plaintiffs include one person with a case in Harnett County, two with cases in Mecklenburg County and six with cases in Wake County.

Three of the cases involved allegations of extended detention, while the others involved claims of wrongful arrest.

One man arrested three times on one Wake County warrant

One of the Wake County cases involved Kevin Spruill, who was arrested in February 2023 on a Wake County felony warrant after a woman he had never met reported that her bank account had been used to purchase $105.92 in groceries at Food Lion.

Spruill said he had paid for the groceries with his own debit card. He was booked into and released on bond that night, The News & Observer previously reported.

But his troubles continued. Spruill said he was handcuffed twice more, once during a traffic stop in Zebulon and again when he appeared in court. The warrant kept showing up in the system, Spruill told The News & Observer in 2023.

“They were saying that my file didn’t upload into the system for whatever reason,” Spruill said. “I just assumed it got lost in the shuffle.”

Who would qualify for settlement funds, how would they apply

Under the proposed settlement, Tyler Technologies, the company hired by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts to develop the software, would pay up to $1.5 million to cover valid claims.

The settlement would allow other people who believe they were wrongly arrested or held in jail too long because of the technology, commonly referred to as Odyssey or eCourts, to submit claims for compensation.

Under the settlement, people who qualify for wrongful arrest compensation would receive $2,800. People who were held in jail too long would receive $500 and potentially more, depending on how long they were detained.

Tyler Technologies would separately pay attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs of notifying potential claimants and administering the settlement, the proposed settlement states.

A memo on the proposed settlement states that the plaintiffs stand by the claims in their lawsuit, while Tyler Technologies denies wrongdoing. However, both sides acknowledge the lengthy litigation process and the uncertainty of moving forward.

The plaintiffs are represented by Gagan Gupta, Abraham Rubert-Schewel and Zachary Ezor of the Tin Fulton Walker & Owen law firm, along with attorney Akeeb Dami Animashaun.

The settlement resolves only the claims against Tyler. Separate claims against Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden are still moving forward in federal court.

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