A state district court judge has awarded nearly $3 million in fees for attorneys who represented Democratic, Republican, Native American and Hispanic voter interests in redistricting trials.
District Judge James Hall issued an order Monday that requires taxpayers to cover the lawyer fees for six groups that challenged plans for revamping political district boundaries for the Legislature, Congress and Public Regulation Commission.
Redistricting landed in court after Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and the Democratic-controlled Legislature disagreed on how to redraw district boundaries to adjust for population growth during the past decade.
Hall said the groups were entitled to attorney's fees because they prevailed in parts of the redistricting dispute, but he reduced some fees by 10 percent based on the degree of success they had in the litigation.