The state attorney general's office has turned down a state senator's request that it investigate the Peralta Community College District.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, a deputy of Attorney General Jerry Brown suggested the senator instead contact Alameda County prosecutors and the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Dutton, the incoming Senate Republican leader, had asked Brown to look into issues first raised by the Bay Area News Group. The group last year published a series of stories revealing, among other things, Peralta Chancellor Elihu Harris' role in steering a no-bid contract to a friend a business partner.