FDLE-SS-2547.pdf

PUR 7776 (Revised 07/2022) Page 1 of 3 Incorporated by Reference: Rule 60A-1.045, F.A.C.

DESCRIPTION OF INTENDED

SINGLE SOURCE PURCHASE

(PUR 7776)

AGENCY: Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)

TITLE: STRmix™ Software Upgrades and Maintenance Short description of the commodity or service desired: Annual upgrades and maintenance for STRmix™ software.

CONTACT

Name: Greer Hannigan Address: 2331 Phillips Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308 Telephone: 850-410-7300 Email: CentralPurchasing@fdle.state.fl.us

Internal tracking number, if any: FDLE-SS-2547

Date posted: 4/24/25 Last day for receipt of information: 5/15/25

This description of commodities or contractual services intended for purchase from a single source is posted in accordance with Sections 120.57(3) and 287.057(3), Florida Statutes (F.S.), and will remain posted for a period of at least 15 business days.

Commodity or Contractual Service Required (commodity or United National Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC), manufacturer, model, and description, as appropriate):

43232605 Analytical or Scientific Software

Quantity or Term (as appropriate):

7/1/25-6/30/26

Requestor (division, bureau, office, individual, as appropriate):

FDLE/Tallahassee Regional Operations Center (TROC) DNA Database

Performance and/or Design Requirements (e.g. intended use, function or application, compatibility, requirements; reference to policy, rule, statute or other act of the Legislature, etc., as appropriate):

FDLE’s mission is to promote public safety and strengthen domestic security by providing services in partnership with local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies to prevent, investigate, and solve crimes while protecting Florida’s citizens by enforcing and supporting prevention of drug activity, responding to emergency situations, and preventing any act of criminal violence in the State of Florida pursuant to Chapter 943, FS, and Chapter 11, FAC.

Pursuant to s. 943.325 Florida Statute, the FDLE Regional Operations Centers throughout the state, operate crime laboratories with the specific mission of investigating high profile criminal case work.

PUR 7776 (Revised 07/2022) Page 2 of 3 Incorporated by Reference: Rule 60A-1.045, F.A.C.

To accomplish this, FDLE’s forensic DNA program requires many processes and instruments to be able to complete the DNA testing, as support to law enforcement agencies as well as by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) national standards to be able to participate in Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) (DNA database searching). To ensure the best possible interpretation of the results are performed, software capable of modeling the data produced to then aid in the interpretation of said data is required to improve the reportable results that help solve cases.

The STRmix™ is a software package deployed by the FDLE crime labs that utilizes probabilistic genotyping, which is a DNA interpretation solution that heavily utilizes math to create a model of how DNA results could look, specifically, in a laboratory based on their instrumentation.

FDLE technicians then use that model to look critically at DNA results from evidence samples.

DNA mixture interpretation has been a highly contested subject in courts of law and probabilistic genotyping is the forensic application answer to the problem.

Intended Single Source:

NicheVision Forensics, LLC 526 S. Main St.

Suite 714G Akron, OH 44311

Estimated Dollar Amount:

$93,000.00

Justification for single source acquisition (what is necessary and unique about the product, service or source; steps taken to confirm unavailability of competition, as appropriate):

In December 2015, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) contracted with NicheVision in response to the FDLE’s Request for Proposal (RFP) 1606. This contract established a Probabilistic Genotyping Software platform that is now implemented in the FDLE Regional Crime Labs. In order to maintain the integrity of the STRmix™ probabilistic genotyping software FDLE must procure annual upgrades and maintenance support to the STRmix™ system.

NicheVision Forensics, LLC will provide ongoing assistance with software upgrades, the preparation of STRmix™ parameter settings, analysis and interpretation of internal validation data, preparation of validation and implementation documentation, and preparation of standard operating procedures and training. NicheVision Forensics, LLC is the only authorized vendor in the United States for the STRmix™ software platform. The software is proprietary and as such, licenses, annual upgrades and maintenance are not available from any other source or vendor.

Approved By (names & titles, as appropriate, e.g., requestor, requestor management, information systems, budget, purchasing):

Julia Lycett, Chief of General Services Jason Bundy, Director of Forensic Services

Prospective vendors are requested to provide information regarding their ability to supply the commodities or contractual services described. If it is determined in writing by the agency, after

PUR 7776 (Revised 07/2022) Page 3 of 3 Incorporated by Reference: Rule 60A-1.045, F.A.C.

reviewing any information received from prospective vendors, that the commodities or contractual services are available only from a single source, the agency shall provide notice of its intended decision to enter a single-source purchase contract in the manner specified in Rule 60A- 1.045, Florida Administrative Code, and section 120.57(3), F.S.