Lawyers representing hundreds of men and woman who claim they were abused at New Hampshire’s youth detention center filed a class action lawsuit Friday seeking to prevent the independent administrator of the state’s settlement fund for victims from being replaced with a political appointee.

Lawmakers created the settlement fund in 2022, pitching it as a “victim-centered” and “trauma-informed” alternative to litigation that would be run by a neutral administrator appointed by the state Supreme Court. But the Republican-led Legislature changed that process through last-minute additions to the state budget approved Thursday and signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte on Friday.

Under the new provisions taking effect July 1, the governor will have the authority to hire and fire the fund’s administrator, and the attorney general — also a political appointee — would have veto power over settlement awards.