PHOENIX -- The Maricopa Board of Supervisors has created its own litigation department.

The supervisors voted to move $6 million for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’s civil litigation budget to create their own department Monday.

Attorneys in the litigation department will represent the board of supervisors and county employees in legal disputes involving Maricopa County.

Attorney Wade Swanson will be paid $175,000 to run the department.

Swanson said that is less money than he made when he hired as a private attorney to represent the board last year.

"Up until two months ago, I was outside counsel and the county was paying me a heck of a lot more,” he said.

By law, Andrew Thomas makes $123,678.

Thomas opposed the decision to transfer money out of his budget.

He issued a statement saying, “Today’s action by the board of supervisors is both shocking and disappointing.”

Thomas said supervisors had promised not to take the money from his budget and contradicting claims that they hoped to end the infighting among county politicians.

Supervisors decided to create the department after Supervisor Don Stapley was indicted last December.

They said they needed conflict free representation.

Nicholas Dranias with the Goldwater Institute said the supervisors have a right to independent counsel.

However, if the charges against Stapley were dropped , it would debatable that the creation of the department was necessary.

"In the end if turns out there really was no substance to this and it really was political infighting of some sort, that generated this, then we're wasting taxpayer dollars,” he said.

"Both the board and attorney Thomas should be held accountable for wasting taxpayer dollars if it turns out this was a brouhaha over nothing,” he said.

Supervisor Don Stapley is facing more than 100 charges.

He is accused of failing to disclose land and business deals on financial disclosure forms he is required to file as an elected official.