Republican state Auditor Stacy Pickering has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to declare funds the attorney general collects from lawsuits to be public money and to require the money to all be turned over the Legislature, including what private law firms collect for their work.

Attorney Arthur Jernigan Jr. told the court Wednesday that Pickering has no dispute with Attorney General Jim Hood's hiring of private lawyers to help with litigation. Jernigan said the dispute centers on the legal fees that the firms collect; he contends the money should go to the state.

The Supreme Court heard Pickering's challenge to a judge's decision last year upholding $10 million in fees paid to lawyers for handling a state lawsuit against computer software manufacturer Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft is not a party to Pickering's lawsuit.

Hinds County Chancellor Denise Owens last April ruled against Pickering.

Microsoft reached a $100 million settlement with the state of Mississippi in 2009. It agreed to pay $10 million to private lawyers hired by the attorney general's office to handle the case.