The Llano County Library lawsuit is entering its next phase, with a second round of oral arguments set to happen at a federal courthouse in New Orleans in September after the county lost the first round in June. The News filed a Texas Public Information Act request to ascertain how much money it has cost the county’s taxpayers so far and sent questions to the Llano County Judge’s Office.
Over the past two years, from Aug. 8, 2022, through Aug. 26, the county has paid $257,724, for the legal services of Jonathan F. Mitchell, an attorney with an office in Austin, according to the Llano County Judge’s Office this week. That tally includes $240,918, from Aug. 8, 2022, through Aug. 28, 2023.
“Since the three judges for the (U.S. Court of Appeals) Fifth Circuit issued their opinion on June 6, Llano County has paid an additional $16,806, in legal fees to Mr. Mitchell,” said Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham, who answered questions from the News via email on Monday. “At this time, we do not have a means to anticipate what the additional legal expenses will be. Each year in our budget process, we anticipate expenses with line items in both professional services and legal expenses, not unlike other counties. We allocate funds for professional services provided to Llano County including...engineering, legal, architectural and information technology.”
