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Gov. Rick Snyder speaks about the Flint water crisis during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 at City Hall in downtown Flint.

(Flint Journal file photo)

FLINT, MI -- A Flint woman is asking for the appointment of a special grand jury to determine the legality of Gov. Rick Snyder's use of state funds to hire private attorneys to represent him in relation to criminal investigations of the city's water crisis.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in Ingham County Circuit Court, alleges that the governor broke the law by violating conflict-of-interest prohibitions and "unilaterally" spending taxpayer money for personal benefit without the authority to do so, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, Oct. 12.

A news release says attorney Mark Brewer, a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, will announce details of the lawsuit filed by Flint resident Keri Webber in press conferences on Wednesday -- at 11 a.m. in Lansing and 1 p.m. in Flint.

In late August, the State Administrative Board was informed that the budget for defending Snyder and employees charged with criminal wrongdoing in the Flint water crisis had reached $7.9 million.

Of that total, $3.4 million was budgeted for law firms hired to defend the governor personally against civil claims and to prepare and review records related to the water emergency.

The AP report Wednesday says Webber claims lead-contaminated water sickened her family. Her 16-year-old daughter sustained liver damage, her 21-year-old daughter contracted Legionnaires' disease and her husband lost vision in one eye due to a stroke she attributes to high blood pressure associated with lead.

Snyder has apologized for his administration's role in the water crisis and his press secretary has said all investigations related to Flint water "are looking at actions taken by Gov. Snyder in his official capacity as governor of the state and, therefore, it is appropriate that the state bears those costs."