Madison Co. settles lawsuit with ex-engineer for $550K

Madison County will pay its former county engineer more than half a million dollars to settle a $1.4 million lawsuit. 

Madison County supervisors voted to pay former engineer Rudy Warnock $550,000 to settle a lawsuit he filed in early 2016. 

Warnock, who was fired by the supervisors in January, filed a lawsuit in February alleging the county owed him $625,714 in past due invoices. That number increased to $1.4 million in April. Warnock also claimed copyright infringement by the county over use of plans, drawings and other documents created by Warnock's firm related to Madison County road and bridge products, according to the county's attorney, Katie Bryant Snell. 

RELATED: Madison County won't pay engineer Rudy Warnock

The county had filed a counter lawsuit, denying Warnock's allegations and adding the former engineer over-billed the county. 

"This litigation has been ongoing for almost a year and has caused significant delay in some of Madison County's road projects," Snell said in a release. "The Madison County Board of Supervisors wishes to move forward with these projects unencumbered by this litigation and the costs associated thereto."

As part of the settlement, Warnock will provide the counties of, and the right to use, all engineering documents prepared by the county pursuant to the terms of the parties' agreement, Snell said. 

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Warnock said, via an issued statement, "We consider this a hard-fought case and are pleased to have reached a mutually-agreeable resolution."

Contact Sarah Fowler at sfowler@gannett.com or 601-961-7303. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.