TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida has gone to an appeals court after a judge ruled it should pay more than $333,000 in attorney fees to groups that challenged a controversial 2021 elections law.

Lawyers for Secretary of State Cord Byrd last week filed notices that are a first step in asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn rulings issued by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker.

Walker on Dec. 20 ruled that the state should pay $200,009 in attorney fees to one set of plaintiffs that challenged the elections law and $133,628 to another set of plaintiffs. Groups such as Florida Rising Together, Hispanic Federation, the NAACP, Common Cause Florida and Disability Rights Florida were plaintiffs in two lawsuits that led to the fee awards.

Walker also has indicated plaintiffs in a third lawsuit are entitled to collect fees, though he has not determined an amount. That lawsuit includes plaintiffs such as the League of Women Voters of Florida.

The notices filed last week, as is common, do not detail arguments that the state will make at the Atlanta-based appeals court. But the state has argued the groups should not recoup fees — or at least should not receive substantial fees — because much of the 2021 law was upheld.

Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the law amid a broader push by the GOP nationally to change election laws after President Donald Trump lost his 2020 re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden. Florida had relatively few problems in the 2020 elections, but lawmakers and DeSantis argued they needed to add safeguards to help prevent fraud.

The law (SB 90) included imposing new restrictions on mail-in voting and voter registration groups and could have prohibited people from giving snacks and drinks to voters waiting in line to cast ballots.

Walker ruled in 2022 that the law was unconstitutionally intended to discriminate against Black voters, but a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned key parts of his ruling.

The voting-rights groups, however, succeeded in blocking parts of the law, including the appeals court saying that a prohibition on people “engaging in any activity with the . . . effect of influencing a voter” outside of polling places was “unconstitutionally vague.” The plaintiffs argued that part of the law would prevent people from giving food or water to voters waiting in line to cast ballots.

Also, amid the legal battle, the Legislature in 2022 repealed part of the law that required voter registration organizations to provide certain disclaimers to people signing up to vote. Walker had issued an injunction against that part of the law.

In May 2024, Walker ruled that the groups were entitled to collect attorney fees, which led to detailed proposals and his Dec. 20 rulings. In both cases, he dramatically reduced the fee amounts sought by the groups.

In one of the cases, plaintiffs such as Florida Rising Together and Hispanic Federation contended he should award $1,454,615 in attorney fees and $683,389 in litigation costs and fees. In December, he ruled the state should pay $200,009 in attorney fees and $2,338 in costs.

In the other case, he awarded $133,628 in attorney fees to the NAACP, Common Cause Florida and Disability Rights Florida after they sought $728,884.

One of the issues in the fee disputes is that the secretary of state was initially dismissed from the cases, which would have left county supervisors of elections as defendants. The secretary of state then intervened in the cases to help defend the law.

Walker rejected arguments that the state’s role as an intervenor should shield it from paying the plaintiffs’ fees.

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