"In child welfare cases, the ad litems and the state are on the same sides, which is the best interests of the child," Hays said. "They shouldn't make it hard to represent the child and, unfortunately, they did here."

The bills will be paid by Texas' Health and Human Services Commission, which is expected to be reimbursed during the upcoming legislative session. It is estimated the total amount to be doled out to attorneys is about $2 million, said Texas governor's spokeswoman Allison Castle. More than $116,000 has already been paid to Schleicher County for ad litem attorney costs.

The county itself passed a resolution earlier this year seeking indemnification against the extraordinary costs associated with the raid. The resolution said Texas Child Protective Services instituted a "costly procedure without the knowledge of Schleicher County against residents," and that county officials had no way of controlling it.

"The governor's position was to go ahead and work with the counties," Castle said.

Only 36 children's cases remain under court jurisdiction as the massive custody case winds down. On Wednesday, CPS announced another child was "nonsuited." The agency has dropped more than 400 children from the case for varying reasons, including findings of no evidence of abuse or their parents took appropriate steps to protect them.

CPS caseworkers and law enforcement went to the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado in April on a report of a 16-year-old girl trapped in an abusive marriage to an older man. The call is believed to be a hoax, but government authorities said that at the ranch they found other signs of abuse. That prompted a judge to order the removal of all of the children.

The children were returned two months later when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and that the children were not in immediate danger of abuse. A criminal probe of the FLDS Church appears to be centering on underage marriages. A dozen people, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, have been indicted on charges ranging from sexual assault of a child to bigamy to failure to report child abuse.

Two men indicted by the Eldorado grand jury last week have not surrendered yet, the Texas Attorney General's Office said.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com