django AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'field' - ajax

Question

I am getting this error while submitting an ajax request using django.
The funny thing is if I execute these commands by hand when the debugger hits it works.
Here is the views.py
def lhr_search_custodians(request):
print request
print request.GET
print "blah"
# pdb.set_trace()
if request.method == 'GET':
search_text = request.GET.get('search_text')
else:
search_text = ''
custodians = Person.objects.filter(last_name__contains=search_text)
context = {'custodians': custodians}
return render(request, 'corpsec/legalholdrequests/create.html', context)
Here is the javascript query.js
$(function () {
$('#custodian_search').keyup(function (){
console.log("search fired!!!");
$.ajax({
url: "new/search_custodians",
type: "GET",
data: {
'search_text' : $('#custodian_search').val(),
'csrfmiddlewaretoken' : $("input[name=csrfmiddlewaretoken]").val()
},
success : searchSuccess,
dataType: 'html',
error: function(xhr, errmsg, err) {
$('#results');
}
});
});
});
function searchSuccess(data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
$('$search_results').html(data);
}
this is the template create.html
{% extends "blackbox/show.html" %}
{% load static from staticfiles %}
{% load formtags %}
{% block title %}
New Legal Hold Request | {{ block.super }}
{% endblock title %}
{% block javascript %}
{{ block.super }}
{% endblock javascript %}
{% block show_header_title %}
<h4>
New Legal Hold Request
</h4>
{% endblock show_header_title %}
{% block tab_menu %}
<li class="tab">
<a id="id_modal_matter"
href="#matter">
Matter
</a>
</li>
<li class="tab">
<a id="id_modal_custodians"
href="#custodians">
Custodians
</a>
</li>
<li class="tab">
<a id="id_modal_electronic_databases"
href="#databases">
Electronic Databases
</a>
</li>
<li class="tab">
<a id="id_modal_collection"
href="#collection">
Collection
</a>
</li>
{% endblock tab_menu %}
{% block tab_content %}
<form action="/corpsec/legalholdrequests/new"
role="form"
method="post">
<span id="csrfmiddlewaretoken">{% csrf_token %}</span>
{% if form.errors %}
<div class="alert alert-dismissable alert-danger">
<button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="alert">×</button>
<strong>Error.</strong> Please correct the following errors:
<small>{{ form.errors }}</small>
</div>
{% endif %}
<div class="row">
<div class="col s12">
<button id="id_form_submit"
type="submit"
class="btn right">
Submit
</button>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div id="matter" class="col s12">
<div class="row">
<div class="col s12 m8 offset-m2">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
{{ form.matter_name|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.matter_number|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.matter_category|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.priority_rating|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.preservation|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.issue_start|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.issue_stop|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.market_area|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.attorney|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.paralegal|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.risk_manager|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ form.category|bsf_field }}<br/>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="custodians" class="col s12">
<div class="row">
<!-- search card -->
<div class="col s12 m3">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
<span class='card-title'>Search Custodians</span>
<script src="{% static 'js/ldap-lookup.js' %}" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="{% static 'js/custodian_query.js' %}" type="text/javascript"></script>
{% csrf_token %}
<input type="text" id='custodian_search' name="search">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!-- results section placeholder for now-->
<div class="col s12 m6">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
<span class="card-title"> Results</span>
<ul id="search_results">
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<!-- action section -->
<div class="col s12 m3">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
<span class="card-title">Action</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="databases" class="col s12">
<div class="row" class='database_1'>
<div class="col s12 m8 offset-m2">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
<div class="row">
{{ database_and_criteria_1.database|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ database_and_criteria_1.criteria|bsf_field }}<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div class="card-action">
<button class='btn waves-effect waves-light' id='show_next_button' type="button" name="button">Add Database and Criteria</button>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row" id='database_2' style="display: none;">
<div class="col s12 m8 offset-m2">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
<div class="row">
{{ database_and_criteria_2.database|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ database_and_criteria_2.criteria|bsf_field }}<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div class="card-action">
<button class='btn waves-effect waves-light' id='show_next_button_2' type="button" name="button">Add Database and Criteria</button>
<button class='btn waves-effect waves-light red' id='remove_db_criteria_2' type="button" name="button">Remove</button>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row" id='database_3' style="display: none;">
<div class="col s12 m8 offset-m2">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
<div class="row">
{{ database_and_criteria_3.database|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ database_and_criteria_3.criteria|bsf_field }}<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div class="card-action">
<button class='btn waves-effect waves-light red' id='remove_db_criteria_3' type="button" name="button">Remove</button>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="collection" class="col s12">
<div class="row">
<div class="col s12 m8 offset-m2">
<div class="card">
<div class="card-content">
<h4>Files<br/></h4>
{{ collection_form.email|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.netshare|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.computer_data|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.group_shares|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.pst_files|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.mobile_device|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.drive_cam_event_number|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.other_data_instructions|bsf_field }}<br/>
<h4>Processing</h4><br/>
{{ collection_form.processing_deadline|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.emails_attachments|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.everything|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.dedupe_matter|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.dedupe_custodian|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.keywords|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.archive_start|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.archive_stop|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.review_platform_external|bsf_field }}<br/>
{{ collection_form.delivery_instructions|bsf_field }}<br/>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</form>
<script type="text/javascript">
$('#show_next_button').click(function() {
document.getElementById('database_2').style.display = 'block';
});
$('#show_next_button_2').click(function() {
document.getElementById('database_3').style.display = 'block';
});
$('#remove_db_criteria_2').click(function() {
document.getElementById('database_2').style.display = 'none';
});
$('#remove_db_criteria_3').click(function() {
document.getElementById('database_3').style.display = 'none';
});
</script>
{% endblock tab_content %}