Chicago taxpayers will pay $90 million in the first-ever global settlement of lawsuits tied to a single Chicago police officer, under the agreement approved Thursday, to 180 people who spent nearly 200 years in prison.

The first global settlement of lawsuits tied to a single officer is now set for a final vote by the full Chicago City Council on Sept. 25.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuits, which date back to 2017, spent nearly 200 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted based on what they allege was fabricated evidence gathered by Sgt. Ronald Watts, who was convicted in 2013 of taking bribes, and other officers.

Leonard Gipson spent two years in jail and pleaded guilty in three cases that were based on evidence gathered by former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts, who was convicted in 2013 of taking bribes.

In all, the settlements approved Wednesday account for nearly half of the city’s annual $82 million budget to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.

Convicted in 2006, Ben Baker spent 10 years in prison before he was released in 2016, three years after former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts was convicted of taking bribes.

The Chicago Police Board will move ahead with evidentiary hearings to determine “whether the officers violated any of the Chicago Police Department’s rules of conduct and, if so, the appropriate disciplinary action,” Vice President Paula Wolff wrote in her decision.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Monday released her office’s “Do Not Call List” — which she said includes a collection of “disreputable” law enforcement officers who have “propelled Cook County’s reputation as the wrongful conviction capital of the country.”

In a new study published Wednesday, researchers found that police misconduct is often a “group phenomenon” that leads to a disproportionately high number of arrests in minority communities.

Several dozen more criminal convictions tied to Ronald Watts have been tossed out, bringing the total number of dismissals tied to the disgraced ex-Chicago police sergeant and his team in recent years to more than 200.

According to a new annual report from the University of Michigan-based National Registry of Exonerations, Illinois recorded 38 exonerations in 2021 — 20 more than any other state — marking the fourth consecutive year it has led the nation.

“Today is a step towards righting the wrongs of the past and giving these individuals their names back,” Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx said.

Of the 22 exonerations recorded in Illinois last year, the vast majority were drug possession or sale convictions tied to ex-Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts, according to a new report.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability announced the conclusion of its investigation into misconduct allegations made against members of a tactical team led by a disgraced former police sergeant, and has delivered its first report of findings and recommendations to Police Superintendent David Brown.

More than 100 convictions tied to former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team have been thrown out in recent years. “Today, we were able to bring some justice to nine people who were targeted and victimized by former Sergeant Watts,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in a statement.

In all, 80 men and women, who were sentenced to 256 total years in prison across more than 100 cases tied to ex-CPD Sgt. Ronald Watts, have had their convictions dismissed over the past three years.