A police officer searching Natalie Simms for illegal drugs told her to spread her legs on the side of a San Antonio street. To Ms. Simms’s shock, she said in a federal lawsuit, the female officer then shined a flashlight into her underwear, reached in and pulled out her tampon.

On Thursday, the City of San Antonio approved a $205,000 payout to Ms. Simms, 40, after she said in the suit that the city had violated her constitutional rights and that the officer had conducted a vaginal cavity examination in public with male officers nearby. She also sued the police officer who conducted the 2016 search, Mara Wilson.

“No amount of money will replace what’s been taken away from Natalie, which is her dignity,” Dean Malone, a lawyer for Ms. Simms, said in a phone interview. The two parties negotiated the amount in August, he added. “What matters to Natalie is at least an acknowledgment that she was harmed.”

Andy Segovia, the city attorney for San Antonio, said in a statement, “We were able to resolve this matter with this proposed settlement and believe it to be in the best interest of all involved.”