Arizona immigration bills legal defense cost $1.5 million

Money comes from defense fund, donations

1 comment
by Ginger Rough - Feb. 25, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic


Gov. Jan Brewer has spent more than $1.5 million in donated funds defending herself and the state against lawsuits stemming from Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law.

The Governor's Office on Thursday released the latest round of invoices from its outside legal counsel, Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer, in response to a public-records request from The Republic and other media organizations.

Those documents show legal fees totaling $470,322.24. The billings cover work done between August and November.

The firm charged Brewer's office $621,846.16 for work done in July, and another $440,520.45 for work in May and June.

The greatest expenditures between August and November were for work related to the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit. It was one of seven cases pending during the time frame. Some cases have since been dismissed; others, including the federal lawsuit, are still working their way through the legal system.

Brewer is paying the legal fees with money in her Border Security and Immigration Legal Defense Fund, which she established via executive order in May. To date, more than 43,000 individuals in all 50 states have contributed money to the fund, according to the Governor's Office.

Donations total more than $3.7 million; minus expenditures, the fund has a balance of about $2.1 million.


www.azcentral.com