16 Sep Lawsuit Filed Against Bent County and CoreCivic for Unconstitutional Medical Care Causing Paul Knuth to Lose His Leg
Holland, Holland Edwards & Grossman recently filed suit on behalf of Paul Knuth, who contracted a MRSA infection while incarcerated in a Colorado private prison, run by one of the largest private prison operators in the country: CoreCivic.
Mr. Knuth was working in the kitchen at Bent County Correctional Facility (BCCF) in July of 2025 when he was forced to leave work early because his foot was in such debilitating pain that he could hardly stand. His crippling pain only got worse the next day, while his foot and ankle became notably swollen and discolored. He declared a medical emergency and was seen by CoreCivic medical staff, who falsely accused him of faking his sickness and trying to skip out of work.
When alarming lab results came back strongly pointing to a serious infection, CoreCivic medical staff ignored them for a day, and then falsely told Mr. Knuth the results were normal. They were not normal. These lab results were very strong evidence, along with Mr. Knuth’s debilitating pain, swelling, and discoloration, that his foot was infected and that the infection was rapidly spreading up his leg. More days passed with no treatment, and finally, after Mr. Knuth declared his third medical emergency that week, he was sent to the hospital septic and near death. To save his life, doctors at the hospital were forced to amputate his leg below the knee.
CoreCivic has long been criticized, in Colorado and nationwide, for providing unconstitutional medical care in its facilities. Lawsuits all over the country allege that it systemically understaffs its jails and prisons, which, while perhaps good for the bottom line, causes untold suffering and needless medical calamity.
CoreCivic’s operation of BCCF is the result of a three-way contracting regime involving the Colorado Department of Corrections, Bent County, and the private prison operator. Long story short, CDOC contracts with Bent County to house state prisoners, and Bent County then turns around and subcontracts with CoreCivic. Bent County earns significant profit, alleged to be $2 dollars per inmate, per day, for 710 inmates, through this arrangement. Rather than provide oversight of a private prison contractor widely alleged to provide unconstitutional substandard care through systemically understaffing its prisons, the County actively lobbies Colorado legislators to help CoreCivic “stay open.”
Mr. Knuth deserved better than to have a common and treatable infection cause him to lose a leg while he was being held accountable and duly serving out his sentence. Such a prison sentence, however, should not and does not include the near-death experience and permanent loss of a limb he has now endured.
Paul Knuth and HHEG have brought this lawsuit in an effort to redress the wrong done to Mr. Knuth and his life going forward, and to achieve some measure of accountability for prisons that put profit over people’s lives and limbs.
The lawsuit is attached here. And several news accounts about this important case can be found at the following links:
- https://www.westword.com/news/lawsuit-colorado-prison-financial-incentive-poor-healthcare-40929961/
- https://www.cpr.org/2026/08/25/former-inmate-lost-foot-lawsuit-bent-county/
- https://www.denverpost.com/2026/08/26/colorado-corecivic-bent-county-prison/