GALVESTON, Texas — The county’s legal department will seek dismissals of all lawsuits filed by prisoners who claimed living conditions were intolerable in the days after Hurricane Ike’s landfall in Galveston.

As of Friday, 40 prisoners had filed lawsuits against former Sheriff Gean Leonard, Chief Deputy Michael Henson and others. The county claims the lawsuits are frivolous and says that prisoners here fared well compared to those in New Orleans who endured the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

If the lawsuits are deemed frivolous, the county will seek court-ordered sanctions of $500 against the inmates if they don’t drop the lawsuits.

The lawsuits, which were filed by the prisoners themselves without attorneys, claim the defendants, by refusing to evacuate, showed reckless disregard for prisoners’ safety. Hurricane Ike made landfall Sept. 13, damaging much of the upper Texas coast.

Nearly a dozen prisoners have contacted The Daily News, describing living conditions after the storm that included bucket baths, bucket urinals, baloney sandwiches and the rationing of water.

Judge Lonnie Cox of the 56th District Court has said he is inclined to handle the cases individually.

County officials plan to send a letter to every inmate who filed a lawsuit, detailing what could happen if the lawsuits are deemed frivolous.

The letter says Galveston County inmates claim holding them in jail was a civil-rights violation. Similar cases were filed from parish jails in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and they were dismissed as frivolous, the letter states.

“The description of the conditions those inmates faced were pretty nasty,” the letter states. “In fact, by comparison, the allegations of the Galveston inmates make the Galveston inmates look like a bunch of Boy Scouts whining about the dessert at summer camp.”

The county’s lawyers could be reimbursed at a rate of $300 per hour, and the $500 sanctions, if awarded, could be taken from the inmates’ commissary accounts, the letter states.

On behalf of Henson, the county’s legal department recently filed an answer to inmate Clifford Joel Ellison’s lawsuit. Ellison claims the conditions were inhumane and cruel and unusual punishment, but the county claims the lawsuit fails to identify what conditions were inhumane or cruel.

In seeking the dismissal, the county claims Henson was acting in his official capacity and is entitled to immunity to all claims against him. It also claims Ellison failed to state specific allegations against Henson or list physical injuries.