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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The often-reported $38 million figure is a rounded version of a $37.9 million jury verdict returned in November 2024 against St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, a Travelers subsidiary. It was not a new jury award against the City of Columbia, and it was not proof that Ferguson had received that amount. A judge later set the total at $43.8 million in June 2025 and amended the judgment to more than $45.1 million in October 2025.
What the $38 million figure refers to
Ryan Ferguson’s attorneys reported that a jury awarded $37.9 million on November 1, 2024, in a dispute over an insurer’s payment obligations and handling of an earlier civil-rights case. Their case-results page breaks the verdict into $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $35 million in punitive damages. The page also says the six police officers involved would receive a combined 14 percent of the verdict; that is the plaintiffs’ account, not an established allocation of the later amended judgment. Law Offices of Kathleen T. Zellner
The headline’s “The Amazing Race” reference identifies Ferguson, who appeared on the television show, but the show has no bearing on the damages dispute. The key distinction is procedural: the jury’s 2024 verdict was followed by larger court-reported judgment totals in 2025.
How the reported amounts changed
| Date and stage | Amount | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| November 1, 2024: jury verdict | $37.9 million | The verdict reported by Ferguson’s attorneys: $2.9 million compensatory and $35 million punitive damages. Law Offices of Kathleen T. Zellner |
| June 2025: court ruling | $43.8 million | A judge-set total reflecting the verdict and amounts accumulated over time. Missouri News Network |
| October 2025: amended judgment | More than $45.1 million | The amount reported after the judgment was amended. Missouri News Network |
| October 2025: bond | $50 million | Travelers posted a bond to suspend the judgment while pursuing an appeal. A bond is not a payment to Ferguson. Missouri News Network |
The amounts describe different stages, not separate awards to add together. The available reporting does not establish the appeal’s final outcome or how much Ferguson ultimately collected.
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Why Ferguson’s case involved an insurer
Ferguson was convicted in 2005 of second-degree murder and robbery in the 2001 killing of Kent Heitholt, a Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor. In 2013, an appeals court vacated the conviction after finding that prosecutors had withheld evidence; prosecutors later decided not to retry him. CBS News
In 2014, Ferguson sued the City of Columbia and six police officers in federal court in a civil-rights case. He received an award reported as about $11 million in 2017. The later litigation concerned the city insurer’s obligation to pay under its policy and its handling of payment. The 2024 jury found the insurer liable for bad faith and vexatious refusal to pay, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
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That distinction matters: the $37.9 million verdict was against St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, not a new jury damages award against the city over the original conviction. The verdict concerned the insurer dispute that followed the earlier civil-rights case.
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A verdict or judgment states an amount determined through the legal process; it does not, by itself, establish that the plaintiff has received that sum. The October 2025 report says Travelers posted a $50 million bond to suspend the judgment while pursuing an appeal. The sources available here do not establish what happened after that report or how much Ferguson was paid.
Ferguson’s attorney Kathleen Zellner described the result as a message to insurers that they should pay when coverage applies, telling the Associated Press: “It’s a way to send a message to insurance companies that if there’s coverage, they need to pay,” and “You can’t just pull the rug out from under people when they’ve paid the premiums.” Those are her advocacy statements, not the court’s legal holding. Associated Press
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