(1) Authority. After reasonable notice to the person or firm involved, and a reasonable opportunity for that person or firm to be heard, the appropriate chief procurement officer has the authority to debar a person for cause from consideration for award of contracts or subcontracts. The appropriate chief procurement officer has authority to suspend a person or firm from consideration for award of contracts or subcontracts during an investigation if there is probable cause for debarment. The period of debarment or suspension is as prescribed by the appropriate chief procurement officer.

(2) Causes for Debarment or Suspension. The causes for debarment shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) conviction for commission of a criminal offense as an incident to obtaining or attempting to obtain a public or private contract or subcontract, or in the performance of the contract or subcontract;

(b) conviction under state or federal statutes of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, receiving stolen property, or another offense indicating a lack of business integrity or professional honesty which currently, seriously, and directly affects responsibility as a state contractor;

(c) conviction under state or federal antitrust laws arising out of the submission of bids or proposals;

(d) violation of contract provisions, as set forth below, of a character regarded by the appropriate chief procurement officer to be so serious as to justify debarment action:

(i) deliberate failure without good cause to perform in accordance with the specifications or within the time limit provided in the contract; or

(ii) a recent record of failure to perform or of unsatisfactory performance in accordance with the terms of one or more contracts; except, that failure to perform or unsatisfactory performance caused by acts beyond the control of the contractor must not be considered a basis for debarment;

(e) violation of an order of a chief procurement officer or the Procurement Review Panel;

(f) violation of the Ethics, Government Accountability, and Campaign Reform Act of 1991, as amended, as determined by the State Ethics Commission, as an incident to obtaining or attempting to obtain a public contract or subcontract, or in the performance of the contract, or subcontract; and

(g) any other cause the appropriate chief procurement officer determines to be so serious and compelling as to affect responsibility as a state contractor or subcontractor, including debarment by another governmental entity for any cause listed in this subsection.

(3) Decision. The appropriate chief procurement officer shall issue a written decision to debar or suspend within ten days of the completion of his administrative review of the matter. The decision must state the action taken, the specific reasons for it, and the period of debarment or suspension, if any.

(4) Notice of Decision. A copy of the decision pursuant to subsection (3) and a statement of appeal rights pursuant to Section 11-35-4220(5) must be mailed or otherwise furnished immediately to the debarred or suspended person and any other party intervening. The appropriate chief procurement officer also shall post a copy of the decision at a time and place communicated to all parties participating in the administrative review and the posted decision must indicate the date of posting on its face and shall be accompanied by a statement of the right to appeal provided in Section 11-35-4220(5).

(5) Finality of Decision. A decision pursuant to subsection (3) is final and conclusive, unless fraudulent or unless the debarred or suspended person requests further administrative review by the Procurement Review Panel pursuant to Section 11-35-4410(1), within ten days of the posting of the decision in accordance with Section 11-35-4220(4). The request for review must be directed to the appropriate chief procurement officer, who shall forward the request to the panel, or to the Procurement Review Panel, and must be in writing, setting forth the reasons why the person disagrees with the decision of the appropriate chief procurement officer. The person also may request a hearing before the Procurement Review Panel. The appropriate chief procurement officer and any affected governmental body must have the opportunity to participate fully in any review or appeal, administrative or legal.

(6) Debarment constitutes debarment of all divisions or other organizational elements of the contractor, unless the debarment decision is limited by its terms to specific divisions, organization elements, or commodities. The debarring official may extend the debarment decision to include any principals and affiliates of the contractor if they are specifically named and given written notice of the proposed debarment and an opportunity to respond. For purposes of this section, business concerns, organizations, or individuals are affiliates of each other if, directly or indirectly, either one controls or has the power to control the other, or a third party controls or has the power to control both. Indications of control include, but are not limited to, interlocking management or ownership, identity of interests among family members, shared facilities and equipment, common use of employees, or a business entity organized following the debarment, suspension, or proposed debarment of a contractor which has the same or similar management, ownership, or principal employees as the contractor that was debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment. For purposes of this section, the term "principals" means officers, directors, owners, partners, and persons having primary management or supervisory responsibilities within a business entity including, but not limited to, a general manager, plant manager, head of a subsidiary, division, or business segment, and similar positions.

(7)(a) The fraudulent, criminal, or other seriously improper conduct of any officer, director, shareholder, partner, employee, or other individual associated with a contractor may be imputed to the contractor when the conduct occurred in connection with the individual's performance of duties for or on behalf of the contractor, or with the contractor's knowledge, approval, or acquiescence. The contractor's acceptance of the benefits derived from the conduct is evidence of such knowledge, approval, or acquiescence.

(b) The fraudulent, criminal, or other seriously improper conduct of a contractor may be imputed to any officer, director, shareholder, partner, employee, or other individual associated with the contractor who participated in, knew of, or had reason to know of the contractor's conduct.

(c) The fraudulent, criminal, or other seriously improper conduct of one contractor participating in a joint venture or similar arrangement may be imputed to other participating contractors if the conduct occurred for or on behalf of the joint venture or similar arrangement, or with the knowledge, approval, or acquiescence of these contractors. Acceptance of the benefits derived from the conduct is evidence of such knowledge, approval, or acquiescence.

(8) The chief procurement officers shall maintain and update a list of debarred and suspended persons, and shall make the list publicly available.

HISTORY: 1981 Act No. 148, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 178, Section 36; 1997 Act No. 153, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 376, Section 53; 2019 Act No. 41 (S.530), Section 58, eff May 13, 2019.

Editor's Note

2019 Act No. 41, Section 80, provides as follows:

"SECTION 80. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies to solicitations issued after that date."

Effect of Amendment

2019 Act No. 41, Section 58, in (1), in the second sentence, deleted "if doing so is in the best interest of the State and there is probable cause for debarment" from the end, in the third sentence, substituted "has authority to" for "also may", and made nonsubstantive changes; in (2), deleted "or suspension" following "debarment", inserted (f), redesignated (f) as (g), and made a nonsubstantive change; and added (7) and (8).