15COE-S3567 RFP.v2~2.docx

Nevada State Purchasing Division Department of Administration 515 E Musser St Ste 300 Carson City, NV 89701 purchasing.nv.gov nevadaepro.com

Request for proposals 15COE-S3567

Release Date 11/26

Solicitation number 15COE-S3567

Single point of contact name Joel Wixon, Purchasing Officer II

Single point of contact email j.wixon@admin.nv.gov

Single point of contact phone# 775-531-3313

Soliciting agency Nevada State Purchasing

Contracting agency Nevada Commission on Ethics

Solicitation title Case Management System

Deadline for submissions January 08, 2026

For deaf and hard of hearing, call 711 and ask the relay agency to dial the single point of contact phone number above.

This request for proposals is available at nevadaepro.com as a bid solicitation.

Table of Contents

Applicable regulations governing procurement

Statute and code. All applicable Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) and Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) documentation can be found at: www.leg.state.nv.us/law1.cfm.

Single point of contact. Vendors and their representatives shall only contact the single point of contract or use the electronic procurement system regarding this solicitation until after a notice of award (NOA) has been issued. Failure to observe this restriction may result in disqualification of a response per NAC 333.155(3).

Ethics. Prospective vendors are advised to review Nevada’s ethical standards requirements, including but not limited to NRS 281A, NRS 333.800, and NAC 333.155.

Project overview

The Nevada Purchasing Division on behalf of the Nevada Commission on Ethics is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to replace their established database with a true case management and publishing system to create workflow efficiencies and improved functionality to benefit the public services as described below and in the scope of work and attachments.

The State intends to award one contract in conjunction with this request for proposals (RFP), as determined in the best interests of the State. The Nevada Commission on Ethics shall administer a contract resulting from this solicitation. The resulting contract is expected to be for a contract term of four years, subject to Board of Examiners approval.

Goals and objectives

The Commission processes four main types of incoming requests or documentation from public officials, government employees and the general public: Advisory Opinion Requests, Ethics Complaints, Ethics Acknowledgments, and Public Records Requests. The current system largely serves as a document holding system with some functionality for receiving online submissions and publishing certain documents to the public. The total number of users is less than 20 and the total number of incoming cases a year is currently less than 200. Major Features of the Current System

Online form submission with email notifications Agency-facing document holding system Public-facing searchable database Additional Functionality to Improve Customer Service and Agency Efficiency Agency-facing case management tools (automated calendar, cases status dashboard, etc.)

Document template autofill using submitted case information Improved search and sort functionality for public-facing documents Visual data reports and exportable reports to facilitate the tracking of agency performance trends over time Currently staff spend several hours a week manually updating an excel document to track cases and monitor compliance with statutory requirements

The business process for each item and ideal software solution features are below:

Advisory Opinion Requests

The current system includes an online form submission system and in certain cases the ability for Commission staff to publish an opinion to a public-facing searchable database. The search function does not always operate well and although the Commission has requested the ability to create certain topics to make searching easier for the public, the solution has not yet been implemented. Upon submission of a request, the requesting party and Commission staff are notified via email. However, the email notification functionality regularly goes down leading to the potential for missed cases, delayed responses to the public and passed due deadlines resulting in non-compliance with NRS 281A and NAC 281A. Currently the email notification sends an email to an employee’s email account that has been deactivated for over a year and the provider indicates that notification email is hard coded into the solution and cannot be revised.

Ideal functionality would maintain an online submission system and notification to the required individuals, automated calendar of legal deadlines, and the ability to easily modify the form submission and email notification list. In addition, an ideal solution can create initial drafts using case information to increase the efficiency and accuracy of the drafting process.

Ethics Complaints

The current system includes an online form submission system and in certain cases the ability for Commission staff to publish an opinion to a public-facing searchable database. Upon submission of a request the requesting party and Commission staff are notified via email. These types of cases house many more documents for cases that move to the investigatory phase.

Ideal functionality would maintain an online submission system and notification to the required individuals, automated calendar of legal deadlines, the ability to easily modify the form submission and email notification list, and an efficient internal document upload process. In addition, an ideal solution has the ability to create initial drafts using case information to increase the efficiency and accuracy of the drafting process.

Ethics Acknowledgments The current system includes an online form submission system as well as a searchable forward-facing database of submitted forms. Ideal functionality for ethics acknowledgments includes a single record of all submitted documents that can be easily searched regardless of the method the public official uses to submit the documents. In addition, functionality that allows a crosscheck between the Ethics system and other databases or lists of public officers would enhance the Commission’s ability to enforce this requirement in law. Current enforcement can only be completed on an as requested basis and requires manual searching in multiple locations.

Public Records Request

The current system includes an online form submission system, receipt of public records requests and notification to the user and staff by email that their submission has been completed.

Ideal functionality for public records request submissions includes automated calendar of legal response deadlines, ability to upload and track communication regarding the request as well as which documents are provided in response to the request in the event of litigation. Reports of volume, response time, and other relevant performance measures are also desired. Additional function for constituent service and media inquiry tracking is also ideal.

Questions for Interested Potential Vendors

Does your system meet all ideal functionality criteria?

What is an estimated cost for data conversion?

What are estimated costs for initial setup of the system including user training?

What are estimated monthly or annual ongoing expected costs?

What is a timeline for implementation form contract finalization to implementation?

Scope of work

Needs Assessment and Planning

The final contract will include a needs assessment by the vendor in order to understand the business flow, different user needs, and to identify areas of systems improvement and efficiency.

System Design and Development

The vendor will design and develop a software system based on the completed needs assessment that includes but is not limited to the following functionality:

Submittable forms – The system must include publicly available forms for Ethics Complaints, Advisory Opinions, Ethics Acknowledgments and Requests for Public Records. These forms must a) allow for the attachment of exhibits in various formats including PDF, word, audio, pictures, and video file b) create a record in the system upon submission and c) provide email notification to the NCOE and the individual who submitted the form.

Management of Cases – The system must permit NCOE users to upload documents, create draft templates, show deadlines, include and modify case status information and other case management functionality determined by the Needs Assessment. All cases must be assigned a number.

Data Reporting – The system must permit NCOE users to run and pull reports, including visual reports for case status, case type and determination, and other performances measures identified by the Commission. These reports should be easily exportable for inclusion in regular mandated written reports to the Commission.

Case Publishing and Searching for the Public – The system must include a searchable database of final orders or other limited public records. The searchable database must allow for the identification of cases by category and allow the public to search for text within the final documents. NCOE users must be able to identify certain documents for public publishing.

Data Migration and Security

The vendor will migrate current case information to the new system including a) any currently available public materials b) any cases still pending at the time of system migration and c) any documents or data required to be preserved based on Nevada public records retention law.

User Roles and Permissions

NCOE staff must be able to set different users roles and permissions in the system. In addition, NCOE staff shall have permission to adjust in categories, case status, reports, and other non-code/core system functionality.

Testing and Deployment

The vendor will conduct testing prior to migration of data and system launch and will support the NCOE in ensuring that publicly available links and functionality are accessible.

Training and Support

The vendor will conduct training for all current and future NCOE staff on the system, its functionality, and will tailor training to the needs of different user groups within the NCOE. Vendor will also maintain a system of support for users to report bugs or other functionality issues and timely resolve those issues as to not disrupt the statutory mandates of the NCOE.

Attachments

Attachments incorporated by reference. To be read and not returned.

Terms and conditions for services

Attachments for review. To be read and not returned (unless redlining).

Standard form contract Insurance schedule Strategic Plan

Attachments for response. To be completed and returned.

Reference questionnaire Vendor information response Cost schedule Certification regarding lobbying

Timeline

Questions. All questions regarding this solicitation shall be submitted using the bid Q&A feature at nevadaepro.com.

Timeline. The following represents the proposed timeline for this project.

All times stated are Pacific Time (PT).

These dates represent a tentative schedule of events.

The State reserves the right to modify these dates at any time.

The deadline for submissions is the nevadaepro.com bid opening date and time. Late quotes will not be accepted.

Evaluation

Evaluation and scoring are conducted in accordance with NRS 333.335 and NAC 333.160-333.165.

Responses shall be kept confidential until a contract is awarded.

In the event the solicitation is withdrawn prior to award, responses remain confidential.

The evaluation committee is an independent committee established to evaluate and score qualitative evaluation factors for the solicitation.

The State, at its option, may limit participation in cost scoring, presentations, or both to vendors above a natural break in relative scores.

Financial stability shall be scored on a pass or fail basis.

Responses shall be consistently evaluated and scored based upon the following factors and relative weights.

Data security and risk management to protect the Commission’s sensitive legal case information……………..15

Cost factor. The cost factor score is based on the following equation, unless the subject solicited requires alternative scoring. The highest proposed cost from any vendor and the lowest proposed cost from any vendor will be added together to generate a combined total. For each vendor, that proposed cost will be subtracted from the previously combined total. This number is then divided by the highest proposed cost. The resulting number is multiplied by the cost factor weight to generate a weighted cost score.

Presentations. The State may require vendors to make a presentation. The State reserves the right to add additional criteria for presentations. The State reserves the right to forego presentations and select vendor(s) based on written responses submitted.

Best and final offers. Pursuant to NAC 333.165, the State reserves the right to permit revised responses or add criteria to obtain the best offers. Vendors are encouraged to submit their best offer at time of initial response.

Nevada-based business preference

The State awards a five percent (5%) preference to Nevada-based businesses pursuant to NRS 333.3351 to 333.3356, inclusive.

Nevada-based business is defined in NRS 333.3352(1).

The term ‘principal place of business’ has the meaning outlined by the United States Supreme Court in Hertz Corp v. Friend, 559 U.S. 77 (2010), typically meaning a business’s corporate headquarters.

To claim this preference a vendor must indicate it on their vendor account and submitted quote in nevadaepro.com.

This preference cannot be combined with any other preference, granted for the award of a contract using federal funds, or granted for the award of a contract procured on a multi-state basis.

Inverse preference

The State applies an inverse preference to vendors that have a principal place of business in a state other than Nevada and that state applies an in-state preference not afforded to Nevada based vendors, pursuant to NRS 333.33695.

The amount of the inverse preference is correlated to the amount of preference applied in the other state.

Vendors who meet this criterion must indicated it on their submitted quote in nevadaepro.com.

This preference cannot be combined with any other preference, granted for the award of a contract using federal funds, or granted for the award of a contract procured on a multi-state basis.

Mandatory minimum requirements

Pursuant to NRS 333.311 a contract cannot be awarded to a response that does not comply with the requirements listed in this section. Response shall include confirmation of compliance with all mandatory minimum requirements.

Nevada Law and State indemnity. Pursuant to NRS 333.339, any contract that is entered into may not: (1) require the filing of any action or the arbitration of any dispute that arises from the contract to be instituted or heard in another state or nation; or (2) require the State to indemnify another party against liability for damages.

No Boycott of Israel. Pursuant to NRS 333.338, the State of Nevada cannot enter a contract with a company unless that company agrees for the duration of the contract not to engage in a boycott of Israel. By submitting a response, vendor agrees that if it is awarded a contract, it will not engage in a boycott of Israel as defined in NRS 333.338(3)(a).

nevadaepro.com vendor registration. Pursuant to NRS 333.313, vendor must be registered at nevadaepro.com to respond to the solicitation. Vendor information must match Nevada business license and sam.gov entity registration. Vendor information in nevadaepro.com will be used for contract formation. Email address(es) associated with general mailing address or default bid mailing address (if different from general mailing address) in nevadaepro.com will be used for formal notifications. If a vendor has a different contact name and email for negotiations, that should be indicated on the title page(s) of their response.

Nevada business license. Pursuant to NRS 353.007, prior to contract execution awarded vendor must hold a state business license pursuant to NRS chapter 76 unless exempted by NRS 76.100(7)(b). Business license must match nevadaepro.com vendor registration.

System for Award Management (sam.gov) Prior to contract award vendor must hold an active entity registration in sam.gov. Entity registration must match nevadaepro.com vendor registration.

Contract responsibility. Awarded vendor shall be the sole point of contract responsibility. The State shall look solely to the awarded vendor for the performance of all contractual obligations which may result from an award based on this solicitation, and the awarded vendor shall not be relieved for the non-performance of any or all subcontractors.

Data encryption and stateside data. State IT requires that data be encrypted in transit and in rest. State IT requires that State data assets must be maintained in the United States and data will not be held offshore.

Confidentiality and certification of indemnification

Submitted responses, which are marked confidential in their entirety, or those in which a significant portion of the submitted response is marked confidential may not be accepted. Pursuant to NRS 333.333, only proprietary information may be labeled a trade secret as defined in NRS 600A.030(5). All proposals are confidential until the contract is awarded; at which time, both successful and unsuccessful vendor proposals become public information.

Vendors shall submit proprietary information and confidential business information in separate files, flagged as confidential in nevadaepro.com. The State is not responsible for any information contained within a response; responses shall be released as submitted.

By submitting a response vendor acknowledges its responsibility to act in protection of labeled information and agrees to defend and indemnify the State of Nevada for honoring such designation. Failure to so act shall constitute a complete waiver, and all submitted information shall become public information; additionally, failure to label any information that is released by the State shall constitute a complete waiver of any and all claims for damages caused by the release of the information.

Vendor certifications

Vendor understands and acknowledges that the representations within their response are material and important and are relied on by the State in evaluation of the response. Any vendor misrepresentations can be treated as fraudulent concealment from the State of the true facts relating to the response.

Any and all prices that may be charged under the terms of the contract do not and shall not violate any existing federal, State, or municipal laws or regulations concerning discrimination or price fixing. Vendor agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold the State harmless from liability for any such violation.

All response terms, including prices, shall remain in effect for a minimum of 180 days after the response due date. In the case of the awarded vendor, all response terms, including prices, shall remain in effect throughout the contract term.

The price(s) and amount of this response have been arrived at independently and without consultation, communication, agreement or disclosure with or to any other contractor, vendor, or potential vendor. No attempt has been made at any time to induce any firm or person to refrain from proposing or to submit a response higher than this response, or to submit any intentionally high or noncompetitive response. All responses shall be made in good faith and without collusion.

The information included in this response has been arrived at independently and without non-public information obtained from State officials, staff, or their agents.

All employees and contractors assigned to the project are authorized to work in this country.

Vendor has a written equal opportunity policy that does not discriminate in employment practices with regard to race, color, national origin, physical condition, creed, religion, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, developmental disability or disability of another nature.

Vendor has a written policy regarding compliance for maintaining a drug-free workplace.

Critical items

In addition to the scope of work and attachments, the items listed in this section are critical to the success of the project. These items will be used in evaluating and scoring responses. Vendor response should address items in this section in enough detail to provide evaluators an accurate understanding of vendor capabilities. Responses that fail to sufficiently respond to these items may be considered non-responsive.

Standard form contract. The State strongly prefers vendors agree to the terms of the attached standard form contract as is. Ability to agree to contract terms is a high priority to the State. Vendors who cannot agree to the contract as is must include a redlined Word version of the attached standard form contract with their response, with comments justifying the benefit to the State for each requested change. To the extent a vendor has prior contractual dealings with the State, no assumption should be made that terms outside those provided herein have any influence on this project.

Indemnification. Required contract terms on Indemnification: "To the fullest extent permitted by law, Contractor shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend, not excluding the State’s right to participate, the State from and against all liability, claims, actions, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, arising out of any breach of the obligations of Contractor under this contract, or any alleged negligent or willful acts or omissions of Contractor, its officers, employees and agents. Contractor’s obligation to indemnify the State shall apply in all cases except for claims arising solely from the State’s own negligence or willful misconduct. Contractor waives any rights of subrogation against the State. Contractor’s duty to defend begins when the State requests defense of any claim arising from this Contract."

Limited liability. Required contract terms on Limited Liability: "The State will not waive and intends to assert available NRS Chapter 41 liability limitations in all cases. Contract liability of both parties shall not be subject to punitive damages. Damages for any State breach shall never exceed the amount of funds appropriated for payment under this Contract, but not yet paid to Contractor, for the Fiscal Year budget in existence at the time of the breach. Contractor’s tort liability shall not be limited."

Insurance schedule. The State strongly prefers vendors agree to the terms of the attached insurance schedule as is. Vendors who cannot agree must explain which areas are causing non-compliance and attach a redline if necessary. Awarded vendor shall maintain, for the duration of the contract, insurance coverages as set forth in the fully executed contract. Work on the contract shall not begin until after the awarded vendor has submitted acceptable evidence of required insurance. Failure to maintain any required insurance coverage or acceptable alternative method of insurance shall be deemed a breach of contract.

Vendor background

Provide a background, history, and why vendor is qualified to provide the services described in this solicitation. Background should include, at a minimum, the location(s) of the office(s) that would perform the work and the number of employees locally and in total. History should include, at a minimum, the number of years in business and company headquarters location. Provide a brief description of the length of time vendor has been providing services described in this solicitation to the public or private sector. If your company has worked with the State previously, include information about those engagements.

No marketing material desired. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond those requested and sufficient to present a complete response are not desired.

Key personnel. Provide a resume free of photos or overly stylized formatting for proposed key personnel, whether employed directly or through a subcontractor.

Current or former employees. If you employ (a) any person who is a current employee of an agency of the State of Nevada, or (b) any person who has been an employee of an agency of the State of Nevada within the past two (2) years, and if such person is performing or producing the services which you shall be contracted to provide under this contract, you must disclose the identity of each such person in your response, and specify the services that each person shall be expected to perform.

Exclusions. All conditions and provisions of this solicitation are deemed to be accepted by the vendor and incorporated by reference in the response, except such conditions and provisions that the vendor expressly excludes in the response. Any exclusion shall be in writing and included in the response at the time of submission.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are defined as a third party, not directly employed by the contractor, who shall provide services identified in this solicitation. This does not include third parties who provide support or incidental services to the contractor.

Vendor shall disclose all proposed subcontractors. Response should include a vendor information response form for each proposed subcontractor.

Vendor shall not allow any subcontractor to commence work until all insurance required of the subcontractor is provided to the vendor.

Vendor shall certify that subcontractors comply with mandatory minimum requirements except contract responsibility.

Vendor response shall identify specific requirements of the project for which each subcontractor shall perform services.

How the work of any subcontractor(s) shall be supervised How channels of communication shall be maintained How compliance with contracts terms and conditions will be assured Previous experience with subcontractor(s)

Confidential business information

The information requested in this section is designated as confidential business information by the Administrator pursuant to NRS 333.020(5)(b) and is not public information pursuant to NRS 333.333.

This information should be submitted as a separate attachment, flagged as confidential in nevadaepro.com.

Dun and Bradstreet number. Vendor shall provide their Dun and Bradstreet Number.

Financial information. Vendor shall provide the last two full years and current year interim (a) profit and loss statements and (b) balance statements.

Disclosure. Vendor shall provide complete disclosure of any alleged significant prior or ongoing contract failures, contract breaches, any civil or criminal litigation or investigations pending which involves the vendor or in which the vendor has been judged guilty or liable.

Conflict of interest. Vendor shall disclose any existing or potential conflict of interest relative to the performance of the contractual services resulting from this solicitation. Any such relationship that might be perceived or represented as a conflict shall be disclosed. By submitting a response in response to this solicitation, vendors affirm that they have not given, nor intend to give at any time hereafter, any economic opportunity, future employment, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to a public servant or any employee or representative of same, in connection with this procurement. Any attempt to intentionally or unintentionally conceal or obfuscate a conflict of interest shall result in disqualification of a vendor response. An award shall not be made where a conflict of interest exists. The State shall determine whether a conflict of interest exists and whether it may reflect negatively on State vendor selection. The State reserves the right to disqualify any vendor on the grounds of actual or apparent conflict of interest.

Client references

Vendor may be asked to provide reference questionnaire attachment to client references from similar projects performed for private or public sector clients within the last five years.

The single point of contact may receive up to three complete reference questionnaire documents directly from the client references via email, if determined to be required for evaluation of the work solicited.

The purpose of these references is to document relevant experience and aid in the evaluation process.

Reference questionnaire will not be accepted directly from proposing vendors.

Client references are not to be requested from the contracting agency.

The State will not disclose client references, but may confirm the quantity of reference questionnaires received.

The State reserves the right to contact client references during evaluation or negotiations.

Submission checklist

This section identifies documents that vendors can submit to be considered responsive. Vendors are encouraged to review all requirements to ensure all requested information is included in their response.

This is a general request for most solicitations. There may be additional instructions within the body of the solicitation that require scope specific response documents. Vendors are encouraged to thoroughly review all requirements.

Responses must be submitted as a quote through nevadaepro.com.

Vendors are encouraged to submit a single file attachment per section where possible.

Technical proposal information and cost proposal information are not to be included in the same attachment.

Cost proposal attachment needs to be a not be flagged as confidential in nevadaepro.com.

Additional attachments may be included, but are discouraged and should be kept to a minimum.

Technical proposal

Title page Table of contents Signed certification regarding lobbying Response to mandatory minimum requirements Response to critical items Response to scope of work Other informational material

Proprietary information. If necessary. Attachment should be flagged confidential in nevadaepro.com.

Title page Table of contents Trade secret information, cross referenced to the technical proposal (alternatively, a redacted technical proposal and a full confidential technical proposal can be submitted)

Cost proposal

Confidential business information. Attachment should be flagged confidential in nevadaepro.com.

Other attachments. If necessary, not recommended.

Client references. Not submitted directly by vendor.

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