Former Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne is now serving time in federal prison.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Broward County Sheriff's Office has agreed to pay thousands of people who were strip-searched after being arrested for petty crimes in a multimillion dollar settlement.

A judge on Friday approved the agreement, which would pay $1,000 to each person who was improperly searched while being booked into jail for misdemeanor and traffic offenses, two newspapers reported.

The searches were mandated by former Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne, who is now serving time in federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud conspiracy and tax evasion.

The policy was in effect from 1998 to 2001, although it continued to some extent after that.

The settlement amount is $11.5 million, although officials expect it to total about half that after all claims are processed.

While those eligible will be mailed a notice, officials said only half of the people searched are likely to claim their money.

Estimates for how many people were improperly searched vary from 10,000 to 40,000.

"We are prepared to abide by the terms that are imposed by the settlement," said Keyla Concepcion, a Broward sheriff's spokeswoman.

The deadline to apply for the award is Sept. 1, although people who want to sue the agency individually have until July 25 to file.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of two women who were searched after being arrested.

Both women will receive $50,000 for being the lead plaintiffs in the case. Lawyers' fees were capped at $2.5 million.

The sheriff's office did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the case.

Gerald Richman, an attorney representing the women, said that was unnecessary because other courts had deemed strip searches without probable cause to be illegal.

Richman said the agency would be "very foolish" to mandate strip searches for petty offenses again.