Donna Jordan case

A mediation with U.S. Magistrate Judge Stuart Platt Tuesday on attorney fees for a woman who successfully sued Ector County did not reach a resolution.

Now, U.S. District Judge Robert Junell will decide on how much the county will have to pay in attorney fees for Donna Jordan, who was awarded $64,000 in a civil rights lawsuit.

Ector County District Clerk Janis Morgan fired Jordan in 2005. In appellate papers, Morgan said she fired Jordan for "violation of standards and rules of District Clerk's office" and "altering county records."

After initially appealing a Midland federal jury's July 2006 decision, county commissioners voted to end appeals after the ruling was upheld Feb. 1 by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Attorneys on both sides said the dispute came about because of a difference in defense attorney fees requested for the appellate process.

Brian Carney, Jordan's attorney, said he asked the court for $67,000 to be paid by the county, which is less than the $72,000 the county paid its attorneys.

"And I won," Carney added.

Patricia Weaver, who's handling the case for the county, declined to give the amount the county is willing to pay.

"It's just something that's going to be determined by the judge," she said.

That was a statement Carney could agree with.

"It's up to him to decide what he thinks is reasonable," he said.