A former inmate at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem is seeking $1.5 million from the state, alleging prison medical staff failed to diagnose and treat a dislocated ankle during his incarceration at the maximum-security facility.

The Lund Report first reported the lawsuit on July 23, describing it as the latest legal action to fault the state for inadequate medical care in its prison system.

The plaintiff was not named in the outlet's publicly available reporting.

Follows $49 million COVID settlement

The ankle injury suit arrives less than a month after Oregon agreed to pay $49 million to settle a separate civil rights case over COVID-19 in state prisons.

That June 2026 settlement resolved claims brought by more than 5,000 people who contracted the virus while incarcerated and families of 38 inmates who died.

The Oregon Justice Resource Center filed that case in U.S. District Court, alleging the Department of Corrections failed to slow the spread across its 14 institutions. The first $10 million would come from Oregon's taxpayer-funded self-insurance fund; the rest requires legislative approval in 2027.

State audit flags conditions at the same facility

The lawsuit also landed the same week the Oregon Secretary of State published a 40-page audit of the Department of Corrections.

Released July 22, the audit found Oregon State Penitentiary is on a path to become "functionally obsolete" and that the facility, built without modern standards, is creating "uncomfortable and sometimes life-threatening conditions."

Auditors documented an $861 million deferred maintenance backlog across the prison system and found the department still needs 261 additional security staff to end mandatory overtime.

Secretary of State Tobias Read said in a statement on July 22: "Oregon's adults in custody are in the care of the state, and it is the state's responsibility to ensure they are safe and healthy as they are held accountable for their actions, go through rehabilitation, and prepare to return to society."

DOC Director Mike Reese agreed with all of the audit's recommendations but has not publicly responded to the ankle injury lawsuit's allegations.

No court date has been announced for the case. Residents who want to report concerns about conditions in state facilities can contact the Oregon Department of Corrections ombudsman at 503-378-6062.