Digital_Evidence_Request_for_Information_(Addendum_#1_Revision).pdf

26-0795-RFI

DIGITAL EVIDENCE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Pinellas County

Pinellas County Courthouse Annex Bldg., Sixth Floor

Clearwater, FL 33765

THE MISSION OF PINELLAS COUNTY

"Pinellas County Government is committed to progressive public policy, superior public service, courteous public contact, judicious exercise of authority and sound management of public resources to meet the needs and concerns of our citizens today and tomorrow."

The proposal due date below is subject to change. This informal solicitation may be closed once adequate competition is received.

ISSUE/RELEASE DATE: September 4, 2026

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 3, 2026, 3:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/pinellasfl https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/%7bproject.government.code%7d

Pinellas County

Digital Evidence Request for Information

Table of Contents No table of contents entries found.

#26-0795-RFI

Title: Digital Evidence Request for Information

1. Notice

SOLICITATION

SUBMITTALS ARE OPENED PUBLICLY AND ARE ACCEPTED VIA OPENGOV

RFP - Informal / Formal

26-0795-RFI

Digital Evidence Request for Information

ALL QUESTIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN OPENGOV WITHIN THE QUESTION & ANSWER SECTION.

SOLICITATION MEETINGS: Site Visit: None; Pre-Conference: None

SUBMITTALS MAY NOT BE WITHDRAWN FOR 120 DAYS AFTER OPENING DATE.

The Purchasing Division of the Office of Management and Budget for the Pinellas County Board of

County Commissioners uses OpenGov Procurement for contractor/vendor registration, and for posting, submitting and receiving bids, quotes and proposals for active solicitations.

Contractors/Vendors must register with OpenGov Procurement

(https://procurement.opengov.com/signup) to participate in active County solicitations.

Should you need technical assistance with OpenGov, the following options are available:

Phone: (650) 336-7167

Email: procurement-support@opengov.com

Chat is available in the OpenGov application

Web: https://help.procurement.opengov.com

Please Note:

From time to time, addenda may be issued to this solicitation. Any such addenda will be posted to https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/pinellasfl. Receipt of addenda confirmation is required in

OpenGov.

AUTHORIZED BY:

Merry Celeste, CPPO, CPPB, NIGP-CPP, CPM, FCCM

Purchasing Official https://procurement.opengov.com/signup mailto:procurement-support@opengov.com https://help.procurement.opengov.com/ https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/pinellasfl

2. Introduction

2.1. Summary

Pinellas County is seeking information from qualified vendors regarding digital evidence and exhibits management solution for use by county court and circuit court entities. The purpose of this RFI is to identify available products, capabilities, implementation approaches, and vendor experience supporting secure evidence submission, review, management, retention, and destruction for court-related use.

This RFI is intended to gather market information only and does not constitute a solicitation or commitment to award a contract.

2.2. Background

The County seeks a solution that supports court staff, clerks, judges, attorneys, self-represented litigants, and other authorized users in managing digital evidence across the lifecycle of a case.

The system should support secure submission, review, storage, chain of custody, reporting, retention management, appeal-related retrieval, and authorized destruction of digital evidence and exhibits.

The County is interested in solutions that can support a variety of case types and hearing workflows, including in-person and remote proceedings, and that can integrate with existing court systems.

2.3. Contact Information

Kimberly Meador, CPPB

Procurement Analyst Lead

400 S. Ft. Harrison

6th Floor

Clearwater, FL 33765

Email: klmeador@pinellas.gov

Phone: (727) 464-3148

Department:

BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SERVICES (BTS)

2.4. Timeline

Issue Date September 4, 2026

Question Submission Deadline September 11, 2026, 2:00pm mailto:klmeador@pinellas.gov tel:(727)464-3148

Proposal Submission Deadline November 3, 2026, 3:00pm

3. Scope of Work / Specifications

3.1. General Conditions

• This RFI is for information gathering only.

• The County may use responses to support future procurement planning.

• The County reserves the right to request additional information or demonstrations.

• Vendors are encouraged to identify any limitations, assumptions, or dependencies associated with their solution.

3.2. Scope of Requested Information

Vendors are requested to describe their solution’s capabilities related to:

• User authentication and access management

• Evidence submission by external users

• Court and clerk review workflows

• Evidence marking, confidentiality, and status controls

• Chain of custody, audit logging, and reporting for both

• Search, inventory, and reporting

• Retention, appeal, and destruction workflows

• Case management and court system integrations

• File handling, including large uploads and common media types

• Security, hosting, encryption, and compliance

• Training, implementation, and support

• Test/training environments

• APIs and integration toolkits

3.3. User Access and Authentication

Vendors should describe how their solution addresses the following functional areas:

• Support secure access for internal court users.

• Support modern identity integration methods.

• Support multi-factor authentication for external users where appropriate.

• Describe user provisioning, deprovisioning, and administrative controls.

3.4. External User Submission

Vendors should describe how their solution addresses the following functional areas:

• Provide an intuitive interface for attorneys, self-represented litigants, and other authorized external users.

• Support upload of evidence from desktop and mobile devices.

• Support notifications by email and/or text message when submission action is required.

• Allow authorized users to upload digital evidence directly into the system.

3.5. Evidence and Exhibits Workflow and Court Review

Vendors should describe how their solution addresses the following functional areas:

• Support review and handling of evidence by internal users.

• Allow authorized users to mark evidence with statuses or classifications.

• Support designation of confidential or restricted items.

• Support separate evidence and exhibit workflows, if available.

• Support use across multiple hearing and case types.

• Support entry of physical evidence and/or exhibits into the system for tracking purposes.

• Support review of the evidence and exhibits by jurors during deliberations.

3.6. Chain of Custody and Audit Trail

Vendors should describe how their solution addresses the following functional areas:

• Maintain an auditable chain of custody for all evidence and exhibits.

• Record activity for all file actions, including viewing.

• Support locking evidence and exhibits after evidence is formally accepted, where required.

• Prevent unauthorized modification after evidence and exhibits are formally accepted or finalized.

3.7. Search, Inventory, and Reporting

Vendors should describe how their solution addresses the following functional areas:

• Support search and retrieval by case-related criteria and other metadata.

• Provide inventory and reporting functionality for evidence and exhibits management.

• Support reports needed for retention review, closure, and destruction workflows.

3.8. Retention, Appeal, and Destruction

• Support retention of evidence and exhibits for applicable legal periods.

• Identify items eligible for closure or destruction review.

• Support approval-based destruction workflows.

• Notify parties before authorized destruction so they may obtain copies where permitted.

• Support retrieval of admitted evidence and exhibits for appeals, records requests, and other uses.

• Describe how permanent deletion or destruction is handled.

3.9. Integration and APIs

Vendors should describe how their solution addresses the following functional areas:

• Support integration with a case management system for lookup of cases and hearings.

• Provide APIs or other integration tools for interoperability with court systems.

• Describe support for integration with related evidence and exhibits or present systems.

• Explain how the solution accommodates different court and clerk workflows, including remote participation.

3.10. Training and Test Environment

• Provide a secure test/training environment before implementation and after go-live.

• Ensure the test environment is isolated from external users.

• Describe how the test environment mirrors production.

• Describe training options for administrators, internal staff, and external users.

• Describe availability of user guides for external users, and ongoing support post go-live.

3.11. Administration and Operations

Vendors should describe how their solution addresses the following functional areas:

• Describe administrative tools and rights/roles for all internal user types.

• Explain how designated personnel can retrieve and manage evidence and exhibits throughout the retention period.

• Describe inventory, administrative, and records management capabilities.

3.12. Security and Compliance Requirements

Vendors should describe how their solution supports applicable judicial, records retention, and cloud security requirements, including the following:

• Court records must be stored and protected in accordance with applicable retention and confidentiality requirements.

• Data must be encrypted in transit and at rest.

• Court record storage must reside within the United States.

• Cloud-hosted services must meet applicable criminal justice and judicial security requirements.

• The solution must protect the confidentiality of court records and prohibit unauthorized use, mining, or access to court data.

• Access by law enforcement or third parties should occur only through authorized records-custodian processes where required.

• Virus scanning and related protective controls should be in place.

• Vendors should describe backup, recovery, disaster recovery, and business continuity capabilities.

• Vendors should also describe how their solution aligns with applicable court technology standards and any relevant cloud or security policy requirements.

3.13. Summary of Desired Capabilities

The following is a high-level summary of the County’s desired capabilities:

• Secure internal and external user authentication and support single sign-on

• Ability to enter and/or retain digital and physical evidence and exhibit information

• Ability to track, audit, and produce reports for digital evidence and exhibit destruction

• Mobile-friendly evidence and exhibit submission

• Evidence and exhibit workflows

• Audit trail and chain of custody

• Inventory, reporting, and retention support

• For any request for copies of exhibits pr evidence, support various authorized digital copy formats

• Integration with case management systems

• Large file upload support

• Secure test/training environment

• U.S. based secure hosting

• Encryption and compliance controls

• Administrative and supervisory access

• Virus scanning and protective controls

• APIs and interoperability support

• Support for all major video, audio, image, and document file extensions

• Ability to integrate physical evidence and exhibits placeholder/tags

• Sort and Filter capabilities when searching for evidence or exhibits

• Editing tools for external users to use before submitting evidence and exhibits

4. Vendor Questionnaire

4.1. RENUMERATION*

All costs for responding to this RFI will be borne by the responding firm.

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*Response required

4.2. INQUIRIES*

All inquiries for information shall be made through OpenGov within the Q&A section.

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4.3. SUMMARY*

This is a Request for Information (RFI), not a solicitation for proposals. Pinellas County appreciates your assistance with this RFI. Responses will not be treated as proposals.

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4.4. RESPONSE DOCUMENTS*

No e-mail responses will be accepted. Please upload your complete response here:

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