North Dakota’s Commerce Department improperly contracted work for the state’s new logo last year, according to state Auditor Josh Gallion.
Gallion’s regular, two-year audit of Commerce found that two temporary employment contracts, totaling about $87,160, should have been treated as one, which would have required soliciting informal bids or proposals through state procurement requirements.
Gallion said “circumventing procurement laws … does not promote transparency and accountability but instead, undermines the public’s trust in its government institutions.”