Agreement reached in search lawsuit

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) – The federal government has agreed to pay $61,666 to settle claims by three women that they were subjected to an illegal strip search in a Bureau of Indian Affairs jail.

The women are members of the Standing Rock Indian Tribe, whose reservation is in South Dakota and North Dakota. They filed a lawsuit in federal court in Aberdeen in April 2009.

Their complaint said male guards in 2008 removed their blouses and bras without probable cause to believe they were hiding weapons or contraband. The women were being held in a BIA jail in Fort Yates, N.D., on misdemeanor alcohol-related offenses.

The government said the settlement is not an admission of liability or fault by it or its employees.