Coalinga ordered to pay sex offenders' legal fees for election lawsuit

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The city of Coalinga will pay legal fees for convicted sexual predators whose votes it tried to exclude from a 2016 sales tax election.

Many of the sex offenders at Coalinga State Hospital are eligible to vote because they've already served prison terms and parole.

Coalinga annexed the state hospital, so those offenders are city voters.

RELATED: City sues over election partly decided by sex offenders at state hospital

In 2016, their votes helped defeat Measure C 127-50, and Coalinga's city council sued to reverse it and lost.

On Wednesday, the California State Supreme Court ordered the city to pay legal fees from the lawsuit.