Tarrant County weighs spending $250K in legal fees to defend new precinct map
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court will decide Tuesday whether to spend up to $250,000 for Public Interest Legal Foundation to represent the county, the court and County Judge Tim O’Hare in a lawsuit filed against them earlier this month.
On June 3, the Commissioners Court voted to immediately implement a new commissioners precinct map, which will likely flip Democrat Alisa Simmons’ southeast Tarrant County seat to Republicans. Each of the seven maps presented were drawn by the Virginia-based law firm or the subcontracted map drawer, the National Republican Redistricting Trust.
The new map, which was published on the county’s redistricting site four days before the vote, primarily alters southern Precincts 1 and 2. Both are represented by Democrats. The two Republican-represented precincts endured minor changes.
Less than 24 hours after the vote, a group of Tarrant County residents filed a federal lawsuit against the county, the Commissioners Court and O’Hare saying the map is “racially discriminatory.” The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth.
The contract for legal services says the nonprofit will “endeavor to” bill the county for less than $250,000 and “to resolve this matter as quickly and inexpensively as reasonably and ethically possible.”
Besides the attorney’s $450 hourly rate, the county will be paying for “reasonable out-of-pocket expenses,” including travel fare, meals and parking. The county will also be billed up to $100 per hour for non-attorneys, paralegals or legal assistants.
Galveston County was billed $4 million in its racial gerrymandering litigation over the course of two years before Public Interest Legal Foundation got involved in 2023. The lawsuit, which alleges the 2021 county redistricting was racially gerrymandered, has continued through March of this year.
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 12:06 PM.