Michigan pays $378 million in lawsuit judgments, settlements over decadeMichigan paid more than $41 million, while receiving more than $278 million in lawsuit settlement and judgment payments over a year, a new report by the Senate Fiscal Agency shows.

Here are seven things about lawsuit payments and settlements made and received by the state, according to the annual Senate Fiscal Agency’s latest “Status of lawsuits involving the state of Michigan.” It’s based on reports filed by state departments and agencies and created pursuant to Michigan law.

1.

The Department of Corrections made payments in 30 cases totaling $26.7 million, accounting for about 64 percent of the payments made by the state in Fiscal Year 2014-15.

The largest was $25 million in a class action settlement over allegations of sexual assault and harassment by male prison guards. After jury verdicts in the 1996 lawsuit and a related case, the state agreed to a settlement in 2009 to pay $100 million for class members, costs, and attorney fees. The state paid its final payment, the largest of six, of $25 million on Oct. 15, 2014.

2.

The Department of State Police made payments in five cases totaling $7.9 million.

The largest was a $7.7 million settlement in a wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit that arose out of a two-vehicle crash on July 3, 2014, in Flint. A state trooper attempted to stop a motorist for a traffic violation and when the suspect vehicle sped away, the trooper pursued the vehicle and subsequently ran a red light, broad-siding another vehicle and killing one of its passengers and critically injuring another.

The Department of Technology, Management, and Budget made payments in four cases, totaling $3.5 million. The largest was $1.8 million for the DeBoer freedom-to-marry case. The Department of Attorney General reported paying $108,620 in DeBoer attorney fees.

The next-highest payment by the DTMB was $950,000 in a lawsuit asking a Federal court to strike down a State law that banned many public entities from providing health care insurance to the domestic partners of their employees.

4.

The Department of Treasury lists $408,032.84 from the general fund being paid for judgments and $1,147,278.74 paid for settlements in “Tax refund cases,” and notes specific information is prohibited from disclosure under Michigan law.

The state paid $61.50 in interest for settlements under this category.

5.

The smallest amount the state paid is a judgement of $13.70 in Michigan Department of Transportation v. Brian’s Auto Parts, a case in which MDOT sued, alleging encroachment, when a property owner parked vehicles on MDOT’s right of way adjacent to U.S. 31 near Stronach Road in Manistee. The vehicles were a safety concern, MDOT argued.

A Manistee County District Court judge found in favor of MDOT, and Brian’s Auto Parts appealed to circuit court, where a ruling said it was a case of obstruction, not encroachment. The ruling led to an agreement between MDOT and the property owner to install a curb. MDOT paid $13.70 to the property owner for “UPS costs,” the agency said.

6.

The state paid more than $378 million over a decade in settlements and judgments.

Of the 69 cases that resulted in payments, 12 were judgments totaling $2.3 million, and 57 were settlements totaling $39.5 million. Payments in FY 2014-15 were $28.8 million lower than the $70.6 million reported in FY 2013-14.

The state brought in $3.3 billion in lawsuit settlement and judgment payments from FY 2005-06 to FY 2014-15.

That includes more than $278 million in FY 2014-15. The largest payment received in the most recent year was a $190.9 million listed under the department of Attorney General from annual payments under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement to resolve public health-related claims filed by Michigan and other states against the nation’s major tobacco companies.

See details of each state department and the amounts paid each year over the past decade in lawsuit settlements and judgments:

Data Mine is a regular MLive feature that examines data relevant to Michigan