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Welcome to the Broward County Clerk of Courts list of current bids and requests.
I. Definitions:
"Clerk" shall mean the Clerk of County and Circuit Courts for Broward County, Florida.
"Cone of silence" means a prohibition on any communication regarding competitive solicitation between any person who seeks an award therefrom, including a potential vendor or vendor's representative, and the Clerk, the Clerk's employees, or any Clerk staff selected to evaluate or make recommendations for selection in the procurement process.
"Lobbying" shall mean the communication directly or indirectly, by person, telephone, letter, or any other form of communication, with the Clerk, any member of an evaluation, selection or negotiation committee, or any employee of the Clerk, where the lobbyist seeks to influence the vote of a committee or the Clerk's decision-making process in a procurement or policy decision.
"Lobbyist" means a person who is employed and receives payment, or who contracts for economic consideration, for the purpose of lobbying, or a person who is principally employed for governmental affairs by another person or governmental entity to lobby on behalf of that other person or governmental entity. "Lobbyist" does not include a person who is a public officer, employee, or appointee who appears in his or her official capacity.
"Person" means any individual, business, corporation, association, firm, partnership, nonprofit organization, or other organization or group.
II. Cone of Silence:
A Cone of Silence shall be applicable to each competitive solicitation process utilized by the Clerk and shall terminate upon the Clerk's action to award a contract, to reject all bids, proposals or responses, or other action to end the solicitation.
Notwithstanding the Cone of Silence prov1s10ns, a potential vendor or vendor's representative may communicate with designated Clerk staff for the purpose of seeking clarification or additional information regarding the procurement process , make presentations before the selection or evaluation committee or Clerk, or age in contract negotiations as required by the competitive solicitation process.
The Clerk or an employee of the Clerk may contact and have communications with a potential vendor or vendor's representative for the purpose of obtaining further information regarding the vendor's proposal.
III. Registration and Statements:
Prior to engaging in lobbying activities, a registration statement under oath must be filed with the Clerk's Purchasing Division and must contain the following:
A lobbyist shall file a separate registration statement for each employer on whose behalf he or she lobbies.
A lobbyist shall submit to the Clerk annually a signed statement under oath, disclosing all lobbying expenditures, contingency fees and the sources from which funds for making such expenditures and paying such contingency fees have come. The statement required herein for the period from July first to June thirtieth shall be filed no later than July fifteenth of each year. Said statements shall be open to public inspection. A statement shall be filed even if there have been no expenditures during a reported period. A public official acting in his or her official capacity shall not be required to file the statement required herein.
Discontinuance of lobbying activities during a year shall not relieve the lobbyist from the responsibility of filing the statements required herein for that portion of the year during which the lobbyist was engaged in lobbying activities.
IV. List of Current Lobbyists:
The Clerk shall keep a current list of registered lobbyists and the statements required herein, all of which shall be open for public inspection.
V. Violations:
A bidder or proposer shall be excluded from Clerk contracting and Clerk-approved subcontracting for a period of one year when the bidder or proposer has violated the Cone of Silence or registration and statement requirements set forth herein, either directly or indirectly or any combination thereof, on two or more occasions. A "direct violation" shall mean a violation committed by the bidder or proposer, and an "indirect violation" shall mean a violation committed by a lobbyist representing the bidder or proposer. The validity of any action or determination by the Clerk shall not be affected by the failure of any person to comply with the lobbyist provisions set forth herein.
VI. Effective Date:
This policy shall become effective on January 3, 2017.
Brenda D. Forman - 1/9/17
Broward County Clerk of Courts
Amended March 10, 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This code applies to the procurement of commodities, supplies, contractual services, and equipment by the Clerk of Court and shall apply to the expenditure of public funds irrespective of its source. When applicable, procurement shall also be conducted in accordance with State and Federal laws.
When used in this code, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings described below:
The Purchasing Division has been established in order to centralize the Clerk of Court purchasing functions and to carry out the provisions of this code.
Authority: Authority granted by the Clerk of Court, to abide by the rules and regulations set forth herein in accordance with applicable State and Federal laws.
Operational Policies: Operational policies relating to the execution of this code shall be documented in the Clerk of Court purchasing policy manual.
Fill out the Vendor Registration Form to:
Send completed form and inquiries, to purchasing@browardclerk.org, or mail to the address listed on this page.
Upon receipt, you will be added to the Broward Clerk of Court vendor registration list, and notified of any upcoming bids or requests, as they become available and posted on the Clerk of Courts Purchasing Current Bids and Request page.
When it is in the best interest of the Clerk of Court and providing that requirements are not artificially divided to constitute a small purchase, purchases of commodities, supplies, contractual services, and equipment may be made without competitive bids or proposals when the cost does not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
When the estimated cost of commodities, supplies, contractual services and equipment is between one thousand and one dollars ($1,001.00) and thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00), three (3) competitive bids, proposals, or replies shall be sought by fax, mail or by telephone. The bid of the lowest responsible vendor shall be accepted.
All commodities, supplies, contractual services, and equipment, when the estimated cost shall exceed thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) shall be purchased by written and sealed bids, proposals or replies, as applicable, and as determined by the Clerk's Office. After due notice inviting bids, proposals, or replies, a contract shall be awarded to the lowest and best responsible and responsive vendor. However, the Clerk of Court has the discretion to waive formal competitive solicitation procedures in cases where he/she deems it advisable and in the best interest of the Clerk's Office to do so under conditions stated in PUR 14
The formal procurement method employed by the Clerk's Office shall be determined in the best interest of the Clerk of Court, subject to the guidelines describing the methods of procurement established in PUR 02 above.
When determining whether to utilize the Invitation to Negotiate method of procurement, one or more of the following criteria may be considered:
Notice inviting bids, proposals, or replies shall be subject to the following:
Procedure for opening bids, proposals, or replies. The following procedure shall be used:
The Purchasing Division maintains a vendor registration mailing list for most commodities and services purchased by the Clerk’s Office.
To be added as a vendor, complete the Vendor Registration Form.
Send completed form and inquiries, to purchasing@browardclerk.org, or mail to the address listed on this page.
Awarding of contracts and/or purchases shall be made to the lowest responsible bidder, if the invitation to bid method of procurement is used, meeting the criteria of the Clerk’s Office. In addition to the price, the Clerk of Court and Purchasing Facilities Coordinator shall determine the lowest responsible bidder by considering, but not limited to, the following:
When only one bid is received, negotiation is permitted in order to obtain a fair and reasonable price. Additionally, if the low bid is considered to be high, negotiating to obtain lower pricing is permitted.
All formal multiple party contracts covered by this code shall be approved by the Clerk of Court Legal Counsel.
When an award is not made to the lowest responsible bidder, a statement of the reason shall be prepared and made a part of the record when bids are obtained through the formal bid process.
If the same price, quality, and service are received from more than one bidder, the purchase, or contract shall be awarded to a local responsible bidder. A local bidder is defined as a bidder whose business is located within Broward County. If there is a tie bid among local bidders, then the Clerk of Court shall determine which bid is selected.
It shall be unlawful for any Clerk of Court employee to order the purchase of or enter into any contracts for any commodities, supplies, contractual services, or equipment, within the scope of this code and in accordance with other Clerk of Court policies, other than through the Purchasing Division. The Clerk of Court shall not be bound by any purchases or contracts made contrary to the provisions of this code.
The Clerk of Court may authorize purchases from a vendor for specific commodities, supplies, services, contractual services, or equipment that cannot be provided by any other vendor. A statement of the reason shall be prepared and made a part of the record when a sole source or proprietary purchase is made. All sole source or proprietary purchases will be processed using all other Clerk of Court policies appropriate to the type of purchase being made.
When the estimated cost of commodities, supplies, contractual services, or equipment is thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) or over, the Clerk of Court may award a contract and waive the formal solicitation procedures, under the following circumstances:
No employee of the Clerk of Court shall issue a purchase order or enter into a contract for supplies, services, or equipment until it has been determined by the Purchasing Facilities Coordinator or his/her designee that sufficient appropriation balances are available, in excess of all unpaid obligations.
Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Employees engaged in the purchasing process are expected to be free of interests that are potentially unfavorable or detrimental to the best interests of the Clerk. Employees shall not engage nor participate in any commercial transaction involving any company in which they have a significant, undisclosed financial interest.
Any employee engaged in purchasing, who has assumed or is about to assume, a financial or outside business relationship that might involve a conflict of interest must immediately inform the next level of management. The information will be reviewed by management to determine if a conflict of interest is present and what course of action is to be taken.
A conflict of interest exists when an employee:
CODE OF ETHICS
The Broward County Clerk of Court employees seek to provide responsive, effective and efficient governmental services to the citizens of Broward County by exercising prudent fiscal management and safeguarding Clerks records.
To further these goals, all Clerk of Court employees are enjoined to adhere to ethical standards of conduct as set forth in the fulfillment of their official responsibilities.
PERSONAL STANDARDS
Clerk of Court employees shall devote their time, skills, and energies toward goals and objectives of the Clerk's Office, both independently and in cooperation with other employees. They shall strive to provide the highest quality of performance. They shall abide by professional practices and recommended standards as applicable. Furthermore, they shall be accountable for their actions and responsibilities as employees in the public sector.
RESPONSIBILITY AS PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
They shall uphold the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, legislation, and regulations governing their actions.
The goal and mission of the Purchasing Division is to safeguard the assets of the Clerk of Court. To establish an internal control on the stock items secured in Room 265, the following procedures have been implemented:
The Clerk of Court, or in his stead, the Chief Administrator and the Purchasing Facilities Coordinator are the only ones authorized to make an exception to the above procedures.
The Clerk’s office has the right to utilize bids or contracted prices that are provided to State and Government Agencies, unless specific provisions have been negotiated. These agencies include, but are not limited to, Broward County, the Broward County School Board and the State of Florida.
Below you will find forms relating to the Broward County Clerk of Court purchasing process.
Submit a completed Vendor Registration Form to register as a new vendor, update vendor contact information, or indicate change of ownership.
General Forms