LINCOLN, Nebraska — The Lincoln Police Department has completed its investigation into the $2.5 million no-bid emergency contract that has sat at the centre of Nebraska politics for most of this year, and the Attorney General's Office said on Friday, October 30, that police investigators determined the Governor's Office was not implicated in any criminal wrongdoing in the deal.
Source: KFOR News
Lincoln Police briefed Attorney General Mike Hilgers' office on Wednesday, October 28, and agreed to submit their complete investigative file. Because the police review did not implicate the Governor's Office, the Attorney General's Office said no conflict prevented its own review, and it has accepted the file for an independent assessment of the evidence.
Source: Attorney General's Office statement via 107.7 The Island
“We thank the Lincoln Police Department for its thorough investigation. Our office will independently evaluate the evidence. That review will follow the law and the highest ethical standards. Our decisions will be guided solely by the evidence and the law.” — Nebraska Attorney General's Office, October 30, 2026
The contract at the centre of the case
The contract was executed by Nebraska Department of Economic Development staff in May 2024: a one-year, $2.5 million agreement with Global Sustainability Developers, known as GSD, to help grow Nebraska's bio-economy industry. It was awarded as an emergency contract, without the competitive bidding the state normally requires. Nebraska Examiner reporting identified GSD's president as Julie Bushell.
Source: Plains Sentinel (Nebraska Examiner)
The deal came just a month after the Nebraska Legislature passed LB1412, a bio-economy bill put forward in early April 2024 by the Speaker of the Legislature, La Vista Senator John Arch, on behalf of Governor Jim Pillen. Nebraska Public Media reported that under the law, the contract had to be awarded by June 30, 2024.
Source: KFOR News
How the state auditor raised the alarm
State Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Foley referred the allegations to law enforcement earlier this year. His audit claimed favouritism in the award and questioned the nature of the governor's emergency order, why the contract was expedited and why it was not vetted through the state's regular processes — while also finding that GSD did fulfil its contractual obligations. Foley said the emergency designation was not justified.
Source: Nebraska Public Media
Why city police, and not the State Patrol, ran the investigation
At the Nebraska State Patrol's request, the Lincoln Police Department took the case in March 2026; Nebraska Public Media reported the Patrol referred it because of a potential conflict of interest within the Patrol itself. Announcing the completion late on Thursday evening, October 29, the department said the only timeline it prioritised was the one required to conduct a detailed and responsible investigation, and that its investigators remained focused on completing the work properly and without bias. LPD spokeswoman Erika Thomas said the timing of the announcement was not political.
Governor Pillen: “This was political from the start”
Governor Pillen issued a statement on Friday morning, saying: “This was political from the start. I'm glad it's behind us so we can focus on the issues that matter most to Nebraskans and keep fighting to lower taxes, keep boys out of girls' sports and protect our farmers.” The governor has denied wrongdoing throughout, saying Bushell and GSD had brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money for Nebraska.
Source: KFOR News
What happens next
The Attorney General's review begins immediately. Hilgers' office said it will take any further steps warranted after independently evaluating the evidence, and under the arrangement set out when the investigation began, the Attorney General's Office will handle any resulting prosecutions. Had the police review implicated the Governor's Office, the file would instead have been referred to the Lancaster County Attorney's Office. Hilgers has previously described the general path for auditor referrals: his office reviews them for probable cause, a law enforcement agency investigates, and then charges are filed or not filed.
The file reached the Attorney General just days before the November 3 election — timing the Attorney General's Office itself noted, saying that given the substantial public interest and the submission of the investigation file shortly before an election, it was important to explain the status of the matter and its own role. For Nebraska taxpayers, the remaining question is now narrow and concrete: whether the state's top law office, reading the same evidence the police gathered over seven months, reaches the same conclusion — and whether the auditor's questions about how a $2.5 million public contract came to be awarded without bids are ever answered on the record.