Officials in metro Phoenix gave final approval Monday to $26 million in additional spending to cover the taxpayer costs of a nearly 10-year-old racial profiling lawsuit that ultimately discredited then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration patrols.
Taxpayers have already spent nearly $66 million on the case.
The new spending will cover the costs of complying with a court-ordered overhaul of the sheriff's office and paying officials to monitor and investigate the agency on the behalf of a judge.
The spending is expected to continue until the agency fully complies with the court-ordered changes for three straight years.
The latest compliance report says the agency was 32 percent compliant with the overhaul's first phase and 48 percent compliant in phase two.
The costs are believed to have contributed to Arpaio's defeat in November.
