COLONIE — A Colonie woman who was wrongly jailed for three nights in April after her name was mistakenly listed on a Family Court warrant will be paid $33,000 to settle a claim she had filed against Albany County and the sheriff's department.

Jessica L. Donovan spent a long weekend in the Albany County jail after Colonie police took her into custody upon learning of the warrant when they intervened in a non-criminal dispute she had with employees at a Central Avenue pizza shop.

Police officers had checked Donovan's name in a criminal database and the search results indicated a bench warrant had been issued for her arrest on Nov. 23 by Family Court Judge Richard Rivera.

The warrant's caption listed Donovan, 35, as the "petitioner" and her ex-boyfriend, who had allegedly failed to pay child support for their two sons, as the "respondent." But the third paragraph of the warrant — right above the judge's signature — erroneously stated: "You are therefore commanded to arrest Jessica L. Donovan, and bring said person before this court to be dealt with according to law."

Colonie police officials previously said they suspected there was a mistake and had asked the sheriff's department to send a copy of the warrant documents so they could see what was written on them.

The morning after her arrest, Colonie police, who had tangled jail officials because they initially did not want to release Donovan, brought her before Colonie town Justice Norman C. Massry, who set bail at $500. But when her mother went to the jail to post the bail, jail supervisors declined to release Donovan from their custody because they said the town justice lacked authority to set bail on a "Superior Court" warrant.

Donovan remained in solitary confinement for another two nights before she was brought to Family Court on April 22 — the day after Easter Sunday — where a judge ordered her immediate release and apologized for the error.

"The jail staff refused to recognize Judge Massry's authority and that was totally wrong and it was illegal," said Donovan's attorney, Kevin A. Luibrand. "The county acknowledged it quickly and correctly and said they wanted to make it right, and we just had to work through what 'making it right' meant."

Luibrand said that Donovan "wants to move on very quickly."

"She had never been to jail before and she didn't belong in jail, so it was quite an ordeal for her," he said.

A judicial panel later reviewed the matter after the Times Union published an article on her arrest. The result was that procedures in Albany County Family Court were adjusted so that the court's judges would more carefully review warrant documents. In addition, arrest warrants that are pending will be reviewed every 30 days by the judges.

The panel that reviewed the case included state Supreme Court Justice Thomas A. Breslin, the judicial district’s administrative judge, and Supervising Family Court Judge Anthony McGinty of Ulster County.

The incarceration of Donovan also prompted court officials to review procedures.

Sheriff Craig Apple declined to comment. He previously that this officers had relied on a 2009 judicial memo that appeared to indicate his jail supervisor had made the right decision. The sheriff also said he believes Family Court should have a judge on call during weekends and other off hours, so that situations like Donovan’s could be handled more swiftly.