DES MOINES, Iowa — Following a special session of the Des Moines School Board on Friday morning, the Des Moines School District announced it will take legal action against the consulting firm it hired to conduct the search for the district’s superintendent in 2022-23 — which ultimately resulted in the hiring of Ian Roberts.

Roberts was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on September 26th in Des Moines after allegedly fleeing from them. ICE said Roberts, who was born in Guyana, was in the country illegally after defying a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May of 2024. ICE said a loaded handgun, hunting knife, and $3,000 in cash were in his possession when he was taken into custody.

The company that was hired was JG Consulting. A statement from the board said the firm was responsible for, “advertising, search, recruitment, application and resume review, public domain search, complete reference checks and presentation of qualified candidates.”

Board Chair Jackie Norris said, “The search firm failed in their duty to properly vet the candidates and Dr. Roberts should have never been presented as a potential Superintendent. JG Consulting’s contract required them to bring all known information of a positive or negative nature to the Board, and since that did not happen the Board will pursue aggressive legal action in accordance with the law.”

Norris said Roberts should never have been presented as a finalist.

The lawsuit claims JG Consulting was negligent and breached its contract with the district. The district said it will provide a copy of the lawsuit as soon as it is available.

Roberts was being held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, but on Thursday, he was transferred into the custody of the Department of Justice on federal firearms charges. He is currently being held in the Polk County Jail.