The Somerset County Board of Education is sharply disputing a state watchdog’s accusation that it broke the law and its own rules when it hired its current legal team, calling the Office of the Inspector General for Education’s analysis “extremely troublesome,” legally flawed, and biased.

A judge has refused to dismiss a criminal charge accusing Delaware’s embattled state auditor of deliberately breaking up payments for a contract she entered into with a former campaign consultant in order to avoid compliance with state procurement law.