Tarrant County approves $75,000 for final invoice in redistricting lawsuit
Republican Tarrant County Commissioners approved an additional expenditure of $75,000 to Public Interest Legal Foundation, the consultant firm used during the 2025 redistricting process and hired to defend the adopted map in a federal lawsuit.
Both Democrats on the court, Commissioners Roderick Miles and Alisa Simmons, voted against giving Public Interest Legal Foundation more than the $250,000 the original contract allotted for.
Though there were two redistricting lawsuits, the firm was only used as outside legal counsel for the federal one, called Jackson et al. vs. Tarrant County et al.; the district attorney’s office represented the county for the lawsuit filed in the state court. Both cases finished near the end of 2025.
The federal case, filed by a group of minority Tarrant voters, claimed defendants Tarrant County, the Commissioners Court and County Judge Tim O’Hare were intentionally racially discriminatory in choosing the new map and disenfranchised voters. They also claimed that the Voting Rights Act, the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fifteenth Amendment were violated by the defendants.
Over six months, the plaintiffs lost an injunction hearing and their appeal. They then dropped the case.
Public Interest Legal Foundation charged the county $30,000 to consult on the redistricting, which resulted in a more Republican-leaning Precinct 2 according to past voting data. In litigating on behalf of the county in the federal lawsuit, Public Interest Legal Foundation racked up a $325,289 bill.
Before the final invoices were received in December, the law firm still had about $30,000 left in the allotted budget. But in the October and November invoices that were filed simultaneously, the budget was exceeded.
Because the law firm exceeded the maximum amount set by the Commissioners Court in June by $75,289, county staff had to get approval to pay Public Interest Legal Foundation the remainder.
Budget and Risk Management Director Helen Giese said this does not go outside the standard protocol for hired legal counsel.
Republican Commissioners Matt Krause, Manny Ramirez and O’Hare voted in favor, and Miles and Simmons opposed. Roughly a dozen residents approached the dais saying they were opposed to the additional expense calling it “a blank check.”
Simmons said Public Interest Legal Foundation should have gotten approval before continuing to accrue expense.
The contract, approved on June 17, 2025, does not explicitly say approval is needed to exceed $250,000.
“The Firm will endeavor, however, to complete this assignment for less than $250,000 if at all possible,” the contract states. “In the event the billing reaches $250,000, the Firm shall brief the Tarrant County Commissioners Court on the budget and what options are available to continue the matter.”
Simmons repeatedly asked who gave the law firm approval to go above the approved expenditure amount, but the question went unanswered.
O’Hare said she was playing a game, to which Simmons responded “ain’t no game.” He said in the meeting he doesn’t believe the contract requires commissioners court approval before continuing the work.
“You know that we’ve had multiple legal matters before, where, when there’s a monthly billing cycle, the legal work doesn’t stop,” O’Hare said.
In response to Simmons’s asking who gave Public Interest Legal Foundation the go-ahead, O’Hare said “I doubt anyone gave them express approval to continue representing the county that they were hired to represent.”
A Public Interest Legal Foundation spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on if approval was necessary or received before the work continued.
With the final installment approved, Public Interest Legal Foundation has been paid a total of $355,289 by the county for all redistricting-related work.