CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Hundreds of suspects who once languished in jail for days without bail or a court hearing will now receive both within 48 hours of arrest, under terms of a settlement in a class action suit approved by a federal judge.

The consent decree, signed by U.S. District Judge James Gwin, says the Cuyahoga County sheriff must only accept custody of defendants from suburban courts if a municipal judge has previously determined there was probable cause to charge and detain the prisoner, and bond had been set within 48 hours of arrest.

Also, County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty’s office has agreed to establish a policy that requires a felony defendant to be represented by a lawyer at the initial court appearance.

The County Council approved the settlement in March, and agreed to pay $128,000 to 622 plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit. But the county did not concede to having committed any wrongs. Lawyers will receive $94,000 of the settlement.

Philip Kushner, the lead attorney in the case, praised the outcome Tuesday.

"We believe that this settlement will help eliminate unnecessary and excessive jailing of people arrested in Cuyahoga County in the future and compensates people who went through this in the past,” Kushner said.

Andrew Dombroff, 25, of Kent, filed the lawsuit last year claiming his constitutional rights were violated after he was arrested on suspicion of smoking marijuana and possession of steroids.

He was taken to Westlake City Jail. Nearly 10 hours later, Rocky River Municipal Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons determined police had probable cause for his arrest. Rather than set bond, she referred the case to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

The sheriff’s office, which controls the County Jail, didn’t take custody of Dombroff until more than three days later, according to the lawsuit. A common pleas judge ordered Dombroff’s release, but it took nearly 29 hours more before he was able to leave the jail.

The settlement money was divided among the plaintiffs based on the amount of time they spent in jail. Each plaintiff had been held without bond in a municipal jail for five-11 days before being transferred to the County Jail.

Dombroff, as the lead plaintiff, will receive $2,268. The rest of the plaintiffs in the class action received between $700 and $25 each.