An outside attorney hired by the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) says officials did not violate procurement codes when hiring an architect for the district's current facilities update project. The findings were part of an SUSD-sponsored investigation.

Attorney Susan Segal with the law firm Gust Rosenfeld reported the findings at a special school board meeting Tuesday afternoon. She says while the district did not violate procurement law when hiring architecture firm Hunt & Caraway, there were concerns about how much the firm billed the district.

"There is evidence that the district has been overbilled by Hunt & Caraway in a significant amount," Segal said. "Although the exact amount is still to be determined."

Segal added there were also concerns about the background of the firm’s principal, Brian Robichaux, specifically the fact that he was not a registered architect. Segal said that did lead to a violation of procurement code later on in the project because Robichaux was on a selection committee to hire a contractor for the project.

The report was not provided to the public at the meeting. Reporters requesting a copy were instructed to submit a public records request. 

Gust Rosenfeld is the same law firm that’s providing SUSD counsel on its 2016 bond sale.