Each South Hampton Roads city has a cadre of attorneys on staff to deal with the many legal disputes that come with running a large city.

Sometimes, a case comes along that poses a potential conflict of interest, requires expertise that can't be found in-house, or just takes too much time.

In those scenarios, officials look outside the city attorney's office to hire a private law firm. That gets expensive.

Saddled with long and costly legal battles, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach have paid nearly $9 million to private law firms over the past five years - more than twice the combined amount spent by Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

"When we go through and see how much we have spent on outside counsel, I think we can do better," said Chesapeake Councilwoman Patricia Willis, who is a lawyer.

City Attorney Ronald Hallman said Chesapeake is a "growing city and has faced a host of unique legal matters" including opposition to a planned North Carolina landfill, the Battlefield Golf Club fly ash case, and a challenge to a police test by the U.S. Justice Department. All of these cases required specific expertise and lots of time, which equals large bills.

Enid Public Schools will be represented by the law firm Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold in a suit filed by the father of a boy who said school officials failed to prevent assaults and harassment against his son.

John Kevin Bradshaw, of Yukon, has named Enid Public Schools, school officials and coaches in the lawsuit seeking more than $40,000 in damages.

Amber Graham Fitzgerald, director of school and community relations, said Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold will represent the district in the lawsuit and those named in the suit who were acting in an official capacity for the district.

“While I cannot comment specifically on this situation, generally EPS employees have the opportunity to be represented by the district’s attorney for claims made while they are fulfilling du-ties in an official school capacity,” she said. “Representation is not provided when a claim is made against them as an individual.”

She said the district does had liability insurance, which addresses this type of situation.

She said school officials could not comment on pending litigation.

A judge sentenced Richard Heene to 90 days in jail, including 60 days of work release that will let him pursue work as a construction contractor while doing his time. The judge also imposed conditions on Heene's probation that forbid him from profiting from the balloon spectacle in any way for four years.

Heene choked back tears as he said he was sorry, especially to the rescue workers who chased down false reports that his 6-year-old son had floated away in a balloon. He said: "I do want to reiterate that I'm very, very sorry."

Richard and Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to charges that they carried out the balloon stunt in October to promote a reality TV show. Mayumi Heene's sentencing is under way.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Elkhart County seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions to halt open dumping of wood wastes at VIM Recycling Inc.'s Elkhart operation. It also asks a judge to order VIM to remove waste materials and debris from its property.

Company spokesman Tom Holt says VIM is "extremely surprised" by the lawsuit. He says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to allow VIM to place wood from the recreational vehicles and manufactured housing industries on asphalt at its property.