A former Oklahoma State University student has reached a $2.55 million settlement with the City of Stillwater after filing a federal civil rights lawsuit over what her attorney described as a degrading and unlawful strip search inside the Stillwater City Jail.
The settlement resolves claims brought by Claire Hosterman, who alleged jail staff forcibly stripped her naked after her arrest in September 2022. According to court filings and video evidence cited in reporting by The Oklahoman, personnel left Hosterman naked in a holding cell for more than an hour after the incident.
Hosterman’s initial arrest
Police arrested Hosterman around 2 a.m. on Sept. 22, 2022, near “The Strip” entertainment district in Stillwater on allegations of public intoxication following an altercation involving police officers and a group of students.
According to the lawsuit, detention officers at the Stillwater City Jail pinned Hosterman face down on a bench and forcibly removed her clothing, shoes, and jewelry, as she protested and screamed that the treatment was abusive. The ordeal lasted roughly eight minutes. Video evidence described in news reports showed two female detention officers and at least one male detention officer participating in the incident.
Hosterman’s attorney, Dan Smolen, called the incident “an unimaginable invasion of personal rights of the highest magnitude.”
The lawsuit alleged the strip search violated Hosterman’s constitutional rights and claimed the jail had a broader pattern of using so-called “forced change-outs” against detainees viewed as uncooperative.
Hosterman: “I can start truly healing from this”
In a public statement released after the settlement, Hosterman described the experience as “abuse, dehumanization, and humiliation” carried out by “the very institution sworn to serve and protect the community.” She said recounting the incident over the past several years had caused significant emotional and physical distress, especially after footage of the strip search became public.
Hosterman said her lawsuit was never about financial compensation, but about accountability and preventing similar treatment of others. She also said the case should concern the broader public because, in her words, if it could happen to “someone like me,” it could happen to anyone.
She welcomed the planned closure of the Stillwater City Jail, which she said would prevent others from experiencing similar harm. According to her statement, Oklahoma officials plan to close the facility on July 1. She also thanked her family, therapists, friends, and legal team for supporting her throughout the legal battle.
“For the first time in four years, I am finally at the point where I can start truly healing from this,” Hosterman said in the statement.
Court records show Hosterman filed her federal lawsuit against the city and several officials in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
The legal outcome of Hosterman’s initial criminal case also shifted after the incident. Initially, she challenged the legality of both the arrest and the strip search, and the civil case ultimately ended with the multimillion-dollar settlement rather than a trial.
The case has drawn renewed scrutiny toward jail procedures and detainee treatment in Stillwater. Separate lawsuits against the city and jail staff have since been filed in federal court.
The City of Stillwater did not formally admit guilt in the settlement papers. The decision to shutter the municipal jail and outsource detainee holding to the Payne County Jail served as a direct concession to the mounting legal and public fallout from this case and a string of similar civil rights litigations.
