RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Attorney General Mark Herring's office is disputing a $4.5 million bill that a private law firm wants taxpayers to pick up after it won a major redistricting case.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Herring's office has said in court that Perkins Coie should be paid $3.1 million instead.
The firm won a lawsuit that accused lawmakers of illegally packing black voters into certain legislative districts to make surrounding districts whiter and more Republican.
A federal court ordered a new House map that made several districts friendlier to Democrats. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the House GOP's appeal earlier this year.
Perkins Coie is the go-to firm for Virginia Democrats, including Herring, for campaign and election issues. Herring, a Democrat, hired the firm to help him in a 2013 recount battle.
