10-696-PD-26-B031 A-001.pdf

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION Page 1 of 6

1. SOLICITATION NO.

696-PD-26-B031

2. AMENDMENT NO.

A-001

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

September 15, 2026

4. ISSUED BY

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Contracts and Procurement Department Two Financial Plaza, Suite 703 Huntsville, Texas 77340

5. NAME AND ADDRESS OF BIDDER

6. The above-numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 7. The hour and date specified for receipt of Bid is extended, is not extended.

Bidders must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended by the following method:

Complete Items 5 and 8, and return a copy of the amendment via Bonfire Bid Submission. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF BIDS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR BID. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change a Bid already submitted, such change may be made by the Bonfire Submission Portal, provided each submission makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

7. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT

• Replace H.1, Insurance Requirements.

• Replace L.8, Bid Submission Checklist.

• Provide answers to questions submitted to the Department for clarification.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the solicitation, as heretofore changed, remain unchanged and in full force and effect.

8a. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or Print)

8b. BIDDER

(Signature of Person Authorized to Sign) Date Signed

696-PD-26-B031 A-001

A. Replace Section H.1, Insurance Requirements, to read as follows:

A. Prior to the approval of this Contract by the Department, the Contractor shall procure, pay for, and maintain the following insurance written by companies approved by the State of Texas and acceptable to the Department. It is recommended that coverage be with a company or companies having both, a Financial Strength Rating of “A” or better and Financial Size Category Class of “VII” or better from A.M. Best Company, Inc.

B. The Contractor shall provide evidence of the insurance by delivering to the Department certificates of insurance executed by the insurer or its authorized agent stating coverage, limits, expiration dates, and compliance with all applicable required provisions.

C. Upon request, the Contractor shall provide, without expense, to the Department copies of the policies and all endorsements. The Contractor shall submit copies and changes to the initial insurance policies, including extensions, renewals, cancellations, and revisions, to the Contract Specialist within 30 Days of the effective date.

D. Subject to the Contractor’s right to maintain reasonable deductibles, the Contractor shall obtain and maintain in full force and effect for the duration of this Contract and any extension hereof, at the Contractor’s sole expense, insurance coverage in the following type(s) and amounts:

1. Workers’ Compensation with statutory limits (excludes single employee operator); Employers

Liability with minimum limits for bodily injury:

a. By accident, $500,000 per accident; and

b. By disease, $500,000 per employee with a per policy aggregate of $1,000,000.

2. Commercial Automobile Liability Insurance covering owned, hired, and non-owned vehicles (excludes single employee operator), with a minimum combined bodily injury (including death) and property damage limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence.

3. Commercial General Liability Insurance including, but not limited to, Premises/Operations, Personal and Advertising Injury, Products/Completed Operations, Independent Contractors, and Contractual Liability with minimum combined bodily injury (including death) and property damage limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence, and $2,000,000 general aggregate.

a. Civil Rights Liability must be provided with the same liability limits. It may be included with the

General Liability policy or written on a separate policy.

b. The Department shall be named as an additional insured by using endorsement CG2026 or broader.

4. Professional Liability (including Errors and Omissions) including coverage for the rendering of, or failure to render, professional services with minimum limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 annual aggregate.

5. Cybersecurity Insurance to cover liability incurred by data security breaches, theft, dissemination, and/or use of personal or confidential information, with a limit of $1,000,000.

E. If the insurance described above is written on a claims-made form, coverage shall be continuous (by renewal or extended reporting period) for not less than 60 months following completion of this Contract and acceptance by the Department. Coverage, including any renewals, shall have the same retroactive date as the original policy applicable to this Contract.

B. Replace Section L.8, Bid Submission Checklist, to read as follows:

Minimum Qualifications Certification(s) of 40 hours of Specialized Sex Offender Clinical Polygraph Examination training consistent with APA Guidelines for each Polygraph Examiner. (Section C.4.A.1) Certification(s) of 30 APA recognized continued education credits for each Polygraph Examiner (completed every two years after the initial Training, if applicable).

(Section C.4.A.2)

Number of years of experience of conducting Clinical Polygraph Examinations for each Polygraph Examiner (minimum of two years). (Section C.4.A.3)

Bidder Information Bid Cover Page (with applicable fields completed).

Exhibit J.1, Texas Department of Criminal Justice Required Contract Clauses Amendment Acknowledgement (Bidder Cover Page #14 and Section L.1.E)

Program Manager name, phone number and email address (Section G.2.4, Program Manager).

Written document stating whether the Bid submission is operated by a single employee.

A list of all Polygraph Examiners who will provide Clinical Polygraph Examinations under this Contract.

Descriptions of all similar services provided to the TDCJ or other institutions/governmental agencies, to include Company Name, Point of Contact information, and Contract numbers and dates of performance.

The TDCJ reserves the right to contact any or all references or consult applicable Department Divisions to evaluate past performance. (Section M.1.E)

Certificate of Texas Franchise Tax Account Status.

Name and address of the Bidder’s insurance carrier with a statement from the carrier(s) that such policies are available to the Bidder, per Section H.1, Insurance Requirements (not required to purchase such insurance for responding to this Solicitation).

Exhibit J.8, Child Safety Zone Certification for proposed Contractor’s location(s) or private office(s).

Unsigned forms will be executed by the Department upon award.

Price/Cost Section B.2, Pricing Schedule Section K.4.7.A, Financial Statements (all sub-schedules and footnotes) for the last two audited fiscal years, to include Balance Sheet, Statement of Income, and Changes in Financial Position;

OR

A copy of the previous year and most current balance sheet;

OR

A list of previous year and most current assets and liabilities.

Questions Answers 1 Regarding the requirement that examiners

“maintain current American Polygraph Association licensing as required,” please clarify the specific license or credential required to satisfy this provision. The American Polygraph Association does not issue a polygraph examiner license; it offers professional membership and establishes training and practice standards. Would current eligibility/approval to conduct PCSOT examinations in Texas, together with the specialized training and experience requirements identified elsewhere in the solicitation, satisfy this requirement, or is an additional credential required by TDCJ?

Submission of completed training per the American Polygraph Association Standards of Practice (APA) are acceptable.

Regarding Sections B.1.2 and B.2, may a bidder submit a separate Section B.2 Pricing Schedule for each proposed service location and offer different firm-fixed prices based on the location where the examinations will be conducted? For example, could a bidder submit separate pricing schedules for El Paso, Midland, and San Antonio, with a different per-examination price applicable to each location?

The TDCJ will accept multiple submissions.

3 what is a “certification?” Are actual training certificates required to meet the certification requirement? For example in A.1 General Definitions, no definition given for “certifications” cited as an item needed in the first listing in the L.8 BID SUBMISSION CHECKLIST, where “Certification(s) of 40 hours of Specialized Sex Offender Clinical Polygraph Examination training consistent with APA Guidelines for each Polygraph Examiner.

(Section C.4.A.1)” are a required item to submit. When reviewing C.4.A.1

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR SEX

OFFENDER CLINICAL POLYGRAPH

EXAMINERS, no certifications or certificates are requested or required.

Submission of completed training would meet the certification requirement.

4 Are actual training certificates required to be sent in for all years of continuing education completed? If certificates are required, aside from initial PCSOT certification training, can that list of continuing education certificates be shortened to the last 3 years? (In some cases, examiners have decades of training completed and in other cases, some files may no longer exist (i.e. Hurricane Harvey flooding.)

The initial completed training (if available) and the most recent completed training are acceptable.

5 Can examiners self-attest with notarization? (… to having completed the required training, some of which may have been over 20 years ago.)

No.

6 Why minimum 30 hours? Section A. 2. States that Polygraph Examiners must complete a minimum of 30 hours of specialized continued education every two years following their initial 40-hour qualification. The standard for APA and for the Texas Joint Polygraph Committee on Sex Offender Testing (JPCOT) is 20 hours every two years, to stay current.

Why are 10 more hours being requested? Is this a typo?

Per APA, the guidelines are 30 continuing education hours every 2 years.

7 I was reading through the insurance requirements and had some questions.

Does the contract require me to have all of these policies as well as each subcontractor?

Yes.

8 Are there waivers for any of these policies? No.

9 Do I have to prove I have them in order to bid, or can I produce them after the award?

Refer to amended Section L.8, Bid Submission Checklist.

10 Commercial General Liability insurance with $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate limits, including Civil Rights Liability coverage and naming the Department as an additional insured. Are we required to have this if all tests will be performed at the DPOs?

11 Commercial Crime insurance covering employee dishonesty with a $1 million limit.] I have never even heard of this one. Would each subcontractor be required to have it or just me?

Refer to amended Section H.1, Insurance Requirements.

12 Cybersecurity insurance with a $1 million limit for data breach and privacy-related liabilities. These policies cost well over 1000 a year. Would each subcontractor have to have it or just me?

Refer to amended Section H.1, Insurance Requirements.

13 Workers' Compensation with statutory limits;

Employers Liability with minimum limits for bodily injury: Are these two insurance coverages required for contractors submitting for the bid who do not have W-2 employees?

Refer to amended Section H.1, Insurance Requirements.

14 Commercial Automobile Liability Insurance covering owned, hired, and non-owned vehicles: Is this coverage no longer excluding solo contractors who only use their personal vehicles and may be able to provide full coverage insurance on such vehicles?

Refer to amended Section H.1, Insurance Requirements.

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15 Commercial General Liability Insurance including, but not limited to, Premises/Operations, Personal and Advertising Injury, Products/Completed Operations, Independent Contractors, and Contractual Liability: This coverage is a requirement along with naming TDCJ, but is the civil rights liability a requirement for contractors submitting a bid who do not or never have had W-2 employees?

16 Commercial Crime Insurance to cover losses from Employee Dishonesty. The Department must be a joint loss payee. Is this a required coverage for solo contractors submitting on the bid, as cybersecurity would cover anything digital?

Yes.

17 In concern with Section B.2.1 – Locations, please clarify the following concern: Will there no longer be a statewide blanket (parole offices and/or district reentry centers) for Contractors submitting bid proposals, but instead up to 15 locations allowed to be listed on the page?

The locations should be established for blanket TDCJ locations; however, the Bidder must inform the TDCJ of the specific locations the Bidder intends to Bid.

Additionally, the Bidder may include additional locations by attaching additional pages.

18 In accordance with C.3.B – Locations of Examination Sites, please clarify the following concern: On August 12, 2022, there was travel to 232 Hanmore Industrial Parkway, Harlingen Texas, 78550 for one exam. As a contracted vendor, I was advised that no one wanted to travel the distance to conduct one examination, but no further work was provided upon completion of the test. In the future, how can this be avoided?

The TDCJ acknowledges the difficulties related to traveling a considerable distance for a single examination;

however, the TDCJ cannot assure that future requests will encompass multiple exams or utilize the same Contractor.

The number of examinations scheduled is contingent upon the demand from Clients at that particular time, which may fluctuate.

19 On August 12, 2022, I was asked to travel from Houston, TX to 232 Hanmore Industrial Parkway, Harlingen Texas, 78550 for one exam. As a contracted vendor, I was advised that no one wanted to travel the distance to conduct one examination, but no further work was provided upon completion of the test. In the future, how can this be avoided?

The TDCJ acknowledges the difficulties related to traveling a considerable distance for a single examination;

however, the TDCJ cannot assure that future requests will encompass multiple exams or utilize the same Contractor.

The number of examinations scheduled is contingent upon the demand from Clients at that particular time, which may fluctuate.