The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday awarded court fees to a legal team that successfully sued the state over the use of General Improvement Funds on lawmakers' pet projects.
The decision on fees pertains to a 5-2 opinion handed down in October. In that case, the high court said the way lawmakers spent the state's surplus money violated the Arkansas Constitution. The suit was filed by former state Rep. Mike Wilson, D-Jacksonville.
The same five justices who sided with Wilson agreed to award him $2,796 in the costs he paid to have a record prepared and to file briefs with the court.
Justices Rhonda Wood and Shawn Womack indicated that they would have denied Wilson's request to be reimbursed fees. Both justices wrote dissents from the court's previous ruling, saying they did not find the General Improvement Fund system unconstitutional.
Separately, Wilson is seeking attorneys' fees to be paid to the lawyer who represented him in the case, Johnson Ogles. That request has been filed with a lower court judge, Chris Piazza in Pulaski County.
Wilson, who is also an attorney, said he is not seeking any fees to be paid to himself.
While the amount of attorneys' fees paid to Ogles has not yet been decided, Wilson said it should be "substantial."
"It's going to be a large amount to make a point that it's unlawful to do these types of things," Wilson said Thursday.
In separate filings, state attorneys and the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District had argued against awarding Wilson legal fees.
The state officials named in Wilson's suit -- Department of Finance and Administration Director Larry Walther, state Treasurer Dennis Milligan and state Auditor Andrea Lea -- were sued in their official capacities and protected by sovereign immunity, state attorneys wrote.
Attorneys for the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, a private nonprofit organization that received General Improvement Funds, argued that the entity should not have to pay court costs because it was using the money in the way lawmakers had directed.
Metro on 12/01/2017