PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes won't fight a request by Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican lawmakers to have her office pay their legal fees in her unsuccessful fight over opioid funds.
AG spokesman Richie Taylor said Monday his boss expected them to seek reimbursement after she failed to convince a judge to halt the transfer of $115 million from a settlement. Mayes, rather than pursue the matter further, simply chose to dismiss her lawsuit.
But Taylor noted while the attorneys involved have requested fees, they haven't said so far how much they believe their time and effort is worth. He told Capitol Media Services that it is only if the dollars sought are "exorbitant" that there will be an objection.
The legal fees are the lone issue remaining in Mayes' contention that the dollars, part of $1.14 billion the state and local governments will receive over 18 years, are off-limits to legislators. She claimed the governor and lawmakers were simply using the dollars to plug a hole in the state budget.
That argument was rejected last week by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah who questioned whether the attorney general has the power to ignore the budgetary mandate that is state law. Anyway, he said, there is no evidence at this point that the plan to give the cash to the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry violates the terms of the settlement with manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies that the funds have to be used to deal with the damages caused by drug addiction.
Hannah did say, however, that if it turns out that the money is not spent in accordance with the agreements, Mayes might have legal recourse to seek judicial action. And he said if the money was misspent, she even could ask the state agency to restore those dollars to the opioid fund — and perhaps even go to court to enforce it.
But with Mayes voluntarily dismissing the case after his ruling, that leaves only the question of the legal fees.
In their joint motion, the lawyers for Hobbs and lawmakers told Hannah Mayes unnecessarily complicated the case.
They said the attorney general rushed into court without first notifying them and got a court commissioner to sign a temporary restraining order barring transfer of the dollars. That, they said, forced them to do a lot of work and in a short period to prepare the legal arguments asking Hannah him to dissolve the order — and quickly before the end of the budget year on June 30.
Only then did Mayes drop her lawsuit. That led to the request for legal fees and costs.
"The attorney general's voluntary dismissal does not absolve it from this liability," they wrote. And they said that doesn't change simply because this was a dispute among governmental entities.
And it isn't simply that they won — and Mayes lost — that entitles the governor and Legislature to legal fees.
They take the position that Mayes' claims were "without substantial justification." And that, they said, is a separate justification for costs and fees, above and beyond the fact that they ultimately prevailed.
How much her office will have to pay will have to wait until Hannah rules on the request for the legal fees. The judge has not yet set a date to hear arguments.
As to where Mayes will find the money in her office, Taylor said that hasn't yet been determined.
"We will identify the fund source once we receive the bills," he said.
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