FLINT, MI -- Gov. Rick Snyder's administration is quickly learning the high price of picking up the tab on attorney bills related to Flint water crisis.

Spending by the state to prosecute and defend current and former employees on matters related to water crisis cases has eclipsed $23 million with no billing slowdown on the horizon.

Records requested by MLive-The Flint Journal from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, state Department of Health and Human Services, Governor's Office and Attorney General's Office detail the spending, which has increased by more than $6 million since October and by $3 million just since the start of the year.

The $23 million -- enough money to supply Flint with bottled water until all lead and galvanized service lines have been removed and replaced -- does not include updated costs for attorneys provided to three former emergency managers, an expense neither the city nor the state have agreed to fully pay and which remains a point of negotiation.

It's an expense that didn't have to burden taxpayers, according to Tony Daunt, executive director of the Michigan Freedom Fund, a group that supports low taxes and conservative causes.

"The crisis in Flint represents an abject failure of government -- both at the state and local level," Daunt said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal. "Unfortunately, the government's failure to address this problem correctly the first time is what led to an even more costly solution to clean up their incompetence."

Included in the total is $6.2 million appropriated by the state Legislature for Attorney General Bill Schuette's criminal prosecution of 11 remaining water crisis defendants, $6.1 million for civil and criminal attorneys at the DEQ, $5.7 million in invoices for the office of Gov. Rick Snyder, and $4.7 million for DHHS.

The total also includes at least $300,000, which the state has agreed to reimburse the city, for attorneys for former emergency managers Ed Kurtz, Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley.

Any additional bills for the former financial managers will be considered on an invoice-by-invoice basis, and only $90,000 has been reimbursed so far even though the city has submitted bills totaling more than $300,000.

Ron Leix, a spokesman for the state Department of Treasury, said the office has put together a reimbursement package that would pay for the first $300,000 in attorney fees for the managers, an arrangement that's in the process of being reviewed before it's paid.

"Because this is outside of our typical day-to-day business, there's an extra layer to due diligence being taken to ensure everything is being done correctly," Leix said in an email to The Journal. "As additional invoices are received from the city, they will be considered for reimbursement."

Through special prosecutor Todd Flood, Schuette's pursuit of criminal convictions continues Monday, May 7, when DHHS Director Nick Lyon is scheduled to return to Genesee District Court for continuation of his preliminary examination.

The Lyon case could be the first to reach the point at which a district judge decides whether there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and that a particular defendant committed it.

Flood has rested his preliminary exam case against Lyon and Dr. Eden Wells, the state's chief medical executive, but their attorneys haven't finished making their cases.

Ambrose, who waived his preliminary exam, is also scheduled to return to court Monday for his first appearance before Circuit Judge Geoffrey Neithercut.

Four current and former DEQ employees -- Liane Shekter-Smith, Stephen Busch, Michael Prysby and Patrick Cook -- are each in the midst of preliminary exams as well.

Cases against Earley, former Flint Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft, and DHHS employees Nancy Peeler and Robert Scott have yet to start.

Andrea Bitely, a spokeswoman for Schuette, said in an email to The Journal that the attorney general is "focused on providing justice for the families of Flint."

"Twelve people died and children were poisoned by the water flowing from their taps," Bitely's email says. "The charges brought forward by the attorney general are about accountability, and restoring trust in government," Bitely's statement says.

The state accounting for the legal fees shows the largest bills to date for criminal and civil defenses at the DEQ and at DHHS are for former DEQ district engineer Stephen Busch, $1.4 million; Lyon, $1.2 million; and former DEQ Director Dan Wyant, $1 million.

Wyant was never charged with a crime related to the water crisis.

The DEQ ledger shows the agency has spent nearly twice as much defending the department and its employees from civil lawsuits compared to criminal defense attorneys.

On Thursday, May 3, state Sen. Jim Ananich, D-Flint, introduced a budget amendment to prohibit the approval of contracts for prosecution or defense of current or former state employees if the hourly rate exceeds $150 an hour.

A spokeswoman for Ananich said the Senate minority leader's research showed $150 an hour is "more than sufficient" to get a good criminal defense attorney, but the proposal failed to win enough support to pass.