(U-WIRE) DURHAM, N.C. — Jim Hardin, whose term as Durham interim district attorney ended Thursday, has requested that the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation look into possible sources of misconduct during the lacrosse case, The (Raleigh) News and Observer reported Thursday.

The request comes less than one week after city officials halted an external investigation of the Durham Police Department’s part in the case.

No decision regarding the proposal had been made as of Thursday.

Hardin and representatives of SBI could not be reached for comment Thursday. Mayor Bill Bell said he did not know enough about the request to comment.

The Durham City Council formed a committee to review DPD in May but suspended it last week after receiving warnings from the city’s insurance provider, The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania. The company feared that the former lacrosse players would use evidence turned up in the committee’s search to file civil suits against Durham, council member Eugene Brown told The Chronicle last week.

“We’re reviewing the request at this point,” Noelle Talley, a spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office, told the N&O Sept. 6.

Duke Law Professor James Coleman told the N&O that investigators may focus attention on inconsistent police reports and undocumented interviews with the accuser that came under public scrutiny in the fall and winter of 2006.

He added, however, that a federal grand jury may be able to conduct the investigation with more ease. The jury would have the power to require testimonies and subpoena documents, the N&O reported.

“You really need documentary evidence, or a tape recording, or a helpful and credible witness, like a police officer,” he said.

Former Durham district attorney Mike Nifong was held in contempt of court in an Aug. 31 hearing for his role in the case. He will serve his penalty of one day in jail today at the Durham County Jail.