Disputes among Maricopa County officials over the past 11 months have cost taxpayers $1.1 million in fees, according to an analysis released Monday by the Office of Management and Budget.

The fees include billings to date for six legal actions, cases in which Sheriff Joe Arpaio, County Attorney Andrew Thomas, County Treasurer Charles Hoskins and the Board of Supervisors have fought each other in court. The money includes costs associated with a grand-jury proceeding focused on the $340 million court-tower project.

Like all government in the current economy, the county's budget is tight. On Monday, the supervisors adopted a $2.1 billion budget for fiscal 2010, reflecting a $122 million reduction from 2009. Administrators expect that 200 employees will lose their jobs during the early part of the fiscal year. According to County Manager David Smith, that $1.1 million in legal fees could fund 20 low-level county jobs.

Officials on all sides agree that the money spent fighting each other is a waste, but no one sees a way to stop it.

Rod McDougall is a longtime Phoenix attorney who has worked for Phoenix and the Attorney General's Office. He said the problem is the structure of county government, which gives too many people too much independence.

In his 33 years working in local and state government, McDougall recalls agencies suing each other only a few times.

"The whole situation is extraordinary," he said. "It seems to me it should be totally unnecessary to conduct your business in that manner."

Expensive battles

Budget officials analyzed billing records from attorneys who represented all parties to arrive at the $1.1 million figure.

The money was paid to outside counsel, or attorneys who contract with the county to work highly specialized cases or on cases in which in-house attorneys have conflicts.

Billings still haven't come in for some work, officials said. With some cases on appeal, legal fees could increase by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Administrators and experts in local government say it is rare to have so many legal actions occurring at the same time in county government. In the past, most conflicts between elected officials were resolved through staff meetings, or officials agreed to disagree.

A lawsuit or two a year between county officials was typical, Smith said, but "having six is crazy."

Power politics

Most of the lawsuits revolve around money and power.

For example, two of the cases revolve around which department controls county computer systems. Another challenges the Board of Supervisors' power to establish a general litigation department that operates separately from the county attorney. Another focuses on the board's decision to sweep millions of dollars from criminal-justice funds used by Arpaio and Thomas.

Officials from the offices of the county attorney, sheriff and treasurer said they had no choice but to sue the board to defend themselves.

"Are all (the elected offices) in some massive conspiracy, or is it possible the Board of Supervisors has overstepped their authority and it's a power grab," said Barnett Lotstein, special assistant to the county attorney. "There is no other alternative to corrective action but to go to the courts and ask the courts to intervene. And, if you go to court, you need a lawyer, and a lawyer costs money."

Jack MacIntyre, a deputy chief for Arpaio, agreed there was no other recourse.

"You can't have a referendum," MacIntyre said.

Hoskins, the county treasurer, said the lawsuits are wasteful, but he said the board is overstepping its authority with other elected offices.

"I think it's a horrible waste of money, and we should be able to work these differences out," he said. "But they (board members) will not negotiate. . . . A lot of it comes from the (board's) staff. They are interfering with how other elected officials are running their offices. They want to micromanage the offices."

Lotstein and MacIntyre also said that although it may seem unusual that there are so many suits against the board, it's not unprecedented. They said that lawsuits by elected officials against the Board of Supervisors were filed in the 1970s and that other counties around Arizona have had similar disputes.

The supervisors and their staff believe they are trying to run the county efficiently and effectively and do not believe they are interfering with other elected officials' duties.

"While the county attorney and the sheriff may think that's what the board is doing, they've yet to prove that in a court of law," said Wade Swanson, director of the county's civil-litigation department. "No judge has agreed with them, and the board certainly doesn't agree with them."

More than money, the fighting likely is costing "legitimacy with the public in airing their dirty laundry in such a fashion," said Roger Hartley, associate professor of public administration at the University of Arizona. "It might be appealing to their own constituent bases, but it certainly doesn't build a broader trust of government."

Reach Wingett at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4712. Reach Harris at craig.harris@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8478.