A reader nudged me with several observations about Friends of Hawaii Robotics, a nonprofit group awarded $2.8 million in federal stimulus funds by Gov. Lingle to promote robotics education.

How is a start-up nonprofit like this one, which according to state records was registered on August 1, 2008, selected to receive such a large grant without going through the bureaucratic rituals required of others.

For example, according the the online business registration records of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Friends of Hawaii Robotics “is not in good standing.”

This generally means that the group has not filed reports required by the state.

In addition, Friends of Hawaii Robotics does not appear to have registered as a charitable organization with the Attorney General’s Office or filed the required annual report, as the group does not appear in the AG’s database of registered organizations.

Here’s what I got this morning when searching the AG’s database:

The AG has pursued other nonprofits that failed to register or filed late.

But at the same time, the state is completing its transfer of $2,805,200 to Friends of Hawaii Robotics, according to a document filed with the State Procurement Office.

This is not to imply that there is anything wrong with the organization or its activities, which have gotten a lot of good public attention.

But shouldn’t we expect a group receiving such a large grant of public funds to follow the same rules and meet the same standards as other nonprofits?