Under the Public Bid Law, the sheriff must advertise for bids for purchases of materials and supplies with a total cost of more than $60,000. If the public entity only receives one responsive bid, they may then contract with that bidder.

Sole Source procurement is only available under the Louisiana Procurement Code. The Sheriff’s office is authorized to adopt all or portions of the Procurement Code, including Sole Source Procurement, but must document (i.e. letter signed by sheriff) such adoption in its contract files.

Further, if utilizing the Sole Source provisions of the Procurement Code, the Sheriff must comply with all of the documentation requirements set forth in the Louisiana Administrative Code. LAC Title 34, Pt V, §901-907. Additionally, under the Procurement Code, if more than one vendor is available for a product, Sole Source Procurement is not available.

Because the monies that will be utilized are Federal Grant funds, the Sheriff must also ensure that any Federally mandated procurement requirements are satisfied.

Sheriff should reach out to the Office of State Procurement (OSP) to see if this or similar equipment was available under existing State contracts. OSP might be able to assist the Sheriff in determining if the GSA contract could be utilized.

Otherwise, they, the Sheriff, should advertise for bids, while notifying the “sole source” vendor to submit a bid.