Legal, accounting fees surpass $40k in athletics investigation

The cost of investigating CSC’s possible football fundraising violations has exceeded $40,000 and might climb, according to invoices provided Tuesday by the Nebraska State College System.

Costs for independent auditor BKD of Denver total $27,552 – $8,000 for a retainer fee and $19,552.32 for forensic accounting services performed by four investigators, travel expenses and an administrative fee, BKD invoices show.

Legal firm Stinson Morrison Hecker billed $17,160 to the NSCS based on 52.8 hours of work at a rate of $325 per hour. The invoice for legal services was only through Oct. 31. Fees that might have been incurred by the NSCS in November for legal services are not included.

Services from the two organizations were secured through contracts, rather than a bidding process, pursuant to NSCS Board of Trustees policy 5023, which states, “The hiring and retention of personnel not regularly employed by the State Colleges and the System Office to act as legal counsel, auditor, architect or professional consultant for durations greater than five (5) days for any State College or the System Office shall be approved by the Chancellor. In each instance, the Chancellor shall notify the members of the Board.”

This report will be updated if more invoices become available.