RICHMOND — One of the state agencies charged with investigating the death of Jamycheal Mitchell in his jail cell in Portsmouth last year did not interview court employees responsible for his case because the state Attorney General’s Office intervened on the employees’ behalf.

Another agency conducting a separate investigation into Mitchell’s death, the Office of the State Inspector General, also did not interview the court’s employees because it believed — based on secondhand information it said it received from the jail where Mitchell died — that the Attorney General’s Office would block its access.

The McAuliffe administration’s investigation of Mitchell’s death was so incomplete that the U.S. Justice Department launched its own probe .

Some will complain about Krudys’ lawsuit. But when state’s officials fail to do their job, a civil lawsuit is the only way to seek justice.

NaphCare, the company responsible for providing medical care to inmates, must pay $1.8 million of the $3 million settlement. Unfortunately, taxpayers ultimately will be stuck with the picking up the jail’s $875,000 tab and the state’s $325,000 obligation. Once attorneys take their cut, the family will receive $1.9 million.

Voters should consider how McAuliffe and Herring dealt with Mitchell’s death when casting ballots in the future elections.