Special Procurement_ Req-DASOBO-00168232_ N.Harris_.pdf

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Attached to
Notice of Special Procurement for the Department of Corrections
Solicitation number
S-DASOBO-00016276
Issued by
Oregon

About this file

Summary of Special Procurement Request

This is a Special Procurement Request (SP No. REQ-DASOBO-00168232) submitted by the Department of Administrative Services, State Procurement Services (DASSPS) on behalf of the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) for a direct award contract amendment with N. Harris Computer Corporation. The request seeks approval for the provision of annual support, maintenance, and required periodic server upgrades for the Syscon Justice Systems Elite Software Trust Accounting and Commissary system. The proposed contract term spans ten years, from March 23, 2026, through March 23, 2036, with a total estimated cost of $1,500,000.00. The procurement process includes a seven-calendar-day public notice period on OregonBuys, the State's eProcurement system, during which affected persons may submit protests. The contract will proceed to direct award and negotiation with N. Harris if no protests are received and sustained, contingent upon Enterprise Information Services endorsement and Oregon Department of Justice legal sufficiency approval.

The current need includes Elite Environmental updates and recompilation at $58,406.00, annual Trust Accounting and Commissary Support for March 15, 2026, through March 14, 2027, at $66,653.50, and annual support for March 15, 2027, through March 14, 2028, at $71,319.25, bringing the total not-to-exceed amount of contract DASPS-1600-20 to $1,416,465.25. N. Harris Computer Corporation acquired Syscon Justice Systems, Inc. in 2021 and is the incumbent contractor; the DOC has maintained a contractual relationship with Syscon since 1999. The justification for special procurement emphasizes that the system manages over 12,500 active Adults in Custody (AIC) Trust accounts and that no comparable vendor offering equivalent integrated Trust accounting and commissary functionality without substantial customization was identified through market research. The DOC determined that replacing the mature, customized Syscon Elite platform would constitute a multi-year enterprise transformation with high financial and operational costs, elevated safety and legal risks, and intensive data migration requirements, making continuation of the existing contract the fiscally responsible approach.

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Special Procurement_ Req-DASOBO-00168232_ N.Harris_ Page 1 of 6

REQUEST FOR SPECIAL PROCUREMENT (SP) No. REQ-DASOBO-00168232

PART A. Requesting Agency must complete Items 1 through 13.

1. Requesting Agency Name: Department of Administrative Services, State Procurement Services (DASSPS) on behalf of the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC)

2. Date of Request: March 2, 2026 3. Agency Number: 10700

4. Agency Contact Name: Julie Curry 5. Phone: (971)446-8169

6. Type of Request: _Class Special Procurement X Contract-specific Special Procurement

7. Time Period Requested: From: March 23, 2026 To: March 23, 2036

8. Total Estimated Cost: $1,500,000.00

9. Title: Supplies and/or Services to be Acquired:

N.Harris Computer Corporation’s Trust Accounting and Commissary annual support, maintenance, and required periodic server upgrades (Syscon Justice Systems Elite Software)

10. Request, Background, Current Need, and Proposed Contracting Procedure:

a. Request:

DAS SPS requests approval, on behalf of DOC, of Special Procurement (SP) No. REQ-DASOBO- 00168232 to direct award amendment of a contract to N. Harris Computer Corporation (N. Harris), for the Syscon Justice Systems Elite Software annual maintenance and support and required server upgrades. This request is for up to ten years, ending on March 23, 2036.

b. Background:

The DOC mission is to promote public safety by holding offenders accountable for their actions and reducing the risk of future criminal behavior. To achieve DOC’s mission, it is imperative to account for Adults in Custody (AIC) Trust account activities, including: AIC bank deposits, interest, AIC team, tournament and meritorious awards; withdrawals such as AIC medical, dental and optical charges, phone charges, debt and fine collection etc. There are currently over 12,500 active AIC accounts being managed through the Syscon Elite Trust and Commissary Accounting System (System).

AICs also use the System to process purchase orders for commissary items. The System accounts for the purchases in the inventory stored in the DOC warehouses, processes all vendor payments, prints checks, records the inventory reduction upon the sale of these items to the AICs, as well as records the charges to the AICs accounts.

Special Procurement_ Req-DASOBO-00168232_ N.Harris_ Page 2

The System is primarily used by DOC Central Trust staff who record all AIC account activity, Commissary staff who process the purchase orders and Canteen sales, and other DOC staff who support these DOC programs.

DOC began contracting with Syscon Justice Systems, Inc. in 1999 and continues to contract with Syscon annually for software support and maintenance. The original contract was DAS SPS Agreement No. 1953. Over the years, the contract numbers changed:

• Once in February 2017 to DASPS-1495-17 for software upgrades and continued maintenance and support, and

• Recently in April 2020, to DASPS-1600-20 for continued maintenance and support

N. Harris Computer Corporation acquired Syscon Justice Systems, Inc. in 2021, and the State has continued to contract with N. Harris for the System and the support and maintenance.

The procurement history is somewhat difficult to establish. The parties do know that Special Procurement, SP-819-16 (attached hereto), was issued January 28, 2016 and closed without protest.

The 2016 Special Procurement clearly sets forth ODOC’s long standing relationship with the Contractor, the development and need for this System, including the continued support and maintenance. DAS SPS and ODOC have amended the Contract several times since 2016.

While DAS SPS and ODOC entered into the Contract and have amended it several times, the costs for the Services are paid from ODOC Commissary revenue.

Current Need:

Amendment No. 5 to contract DASPS-1600-20 adds a recompilation of the licensed Elite product modules and sub-modules, together with previously customized Oracle WebLogic Forms, screens and reports is required to adequately support the current System and ensure smooth operations for DOC.

This current body of work includes certain updates to the AIC Banking and Canteen System environment, including a recompilation of the middle-tier WebLogic Server to version 14.1.

DAS SPS and ODOC also wish to extend the current contract’s term to include ongoing annual support and maintenance for this System.

The pricing for the Current Need is as follows and brings the total not-to-exceed dollar amount of contract DASPS-1600-20 to $1,416,465.25.

Elite Environmental updates & Recompilation: US $58,406.00

Annual Trust Accounting and Commissary Support for the period of March 15, 2026, through March

14, 2027 : US $ 66,653.50

Annual Trust Accounting and Commissary Support for the period of March 15, 2027, through March

14, 2028: US $ 71,319.25

Special Procurement_ Req-DASOBO-00168232_ N.Harris_ Page 3

c. Proposed Contracting Procedure:

1. DAS SPS will issue a Public Notice (Notice) on OregonBuys®, the State’s eProcurement System of record, for a period of seven calendar days as required by Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 125- 247-0287, regarding approval of this SP.

2. The Notice will include a process by which any Affected Person(s) may protest the approval of the

SP.

3. DAS SPS, in coordination with ODOC, will respond to and resolve protests, if any.

4. If no protests to this SP are received and sustained, DOC will proceed with negotiating and direct award of a Contract as set out in Section 10.a above.

5. DAS SPS will obtain Enterprise Information Services (EIS) endorsement before executing the

Contract, if required.

6. Pursuant to OAR 137-045-0015, DAS SPS will work with Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) and obtain legal sufficiency approval prior to executing the Contract, as required.

11. Justification for use of Special Procurement: Describe the circumstances that justify the use of a Special Procurement. Attach relevant documentation.

The ability to direct award and negotiate an amendment to the contract with N. Harris for the System under Oregon’s Public Contracting Code (the “Code”), set out in ORS Chapters 279A, 279B, and 279C, can only be solicited and approved through a Special Procurement Request.

ODOC conducted a review of the current market to identify vendors offering enterprise-level offender management systems with integrated AIC trust accounting functionality comparable to ODOC’s current Trust and Commissary software by Syscon Elite. The review included publicly available information on providers serving state correctional agencies as listed and described below:

• Marquis Software (eOMIS). Known for integrated offender management modules and long-standing relationships with multiple state prison systems. Focused primarily on offender tracking, case management, incident reporting, and integrated operations.

• Tyler Technologies. Broader public-safety suite with corrections/jail management fit; strong in government technology but typically less focused on deep Offender Management System (OMS) or Trust accounting.

• OpenFox and SmartCOP. Alternatives in the corrections/jail management space, often used in county or combined public safety deployments.

• Keefe Commissary Network (KeepTrak). Widely used for inmate banking and commissary; many state DOC contracts include Keefe services.

• Cashless Systems (CACTAS). Provides trust accounting and commissary POS features deployed by some DOCs.

• JointAccounts, LLC. Integrated Trust accounting and commissary ordering system.

• JPay / Securus money transfer services — comprehensive financial deposit services but not full integrated trust/commissary OMS.

Special Procurement_ Req-DASOBO-00168232_ N.Harris_ Page 4

While certain vendors provide offender management platforms and some offer financial or commissary-related components, the research indicated that replicating ODOC’s system which is aligned with existing AIC accounting structures, related purchase orders, canteen sales, audit controls, and long-standing agency rules would require significant customization to include financial system integration, data migration, and compliance with Federal and State statutes. No vendor was identified that could provide an equivalent, seamlessly integrated Trust accounting capability without a comprehensive multi-system replacement effort.

Modernization needs can be addressed through version upgrades or targeted enhancements within the existing contractual relationship without incurring the risks, disruptions or costs of a full system replacement.

Replacing a mature, customized implementation of Syscon Elite would constitute:

• A multi-year enterprise transformation – Large corrections information systems typically require 24– 36+ months for procurement, implementation, testing, and deployment before reaching operational stability.

• High financial and operational cost – Full system replacement often costs multiple times the value of the existing support contract, with industry implementations commonly reaching 2–4× the annual contract value when licensing, implementation services, and transition costs are included.

• Elevated safety and legal risks – The Trust accounting functions currently embedded in Syscon Elite directly affect AIC financial accounts and statutory compliance, meaning errors introduced during a transition could expose the agency to litigation or operational disruption.

• Reimplementation of statutory complexity – Decades of state-specific rules and financial policies built into the system would need to be recreated and validated in a new platform, requiring extensive subject-matter expert participation and iterative testing cycles.

• Intensive data migration and validation – Migrating decades of financial data would require complex extraction, transformation, and reconciliation processes, with extensive validation to ensure accuracy of financial balances, audit trails, and custody histories.

• Substantial project management and governance resources – A replacement initiative would require dedicated project management staff for multiple years, vendor implementation teams, steering committees, and continuous coordination across operations, finance, and IT divisions.

• Significant internal staffing commitments – ODOC would likely need to allocate multiple full-time subject matter experts and technical staff for the duration of the project to document business rules, review configurations, and validate system outputs.

• Change management and training costs – Transitioning to a new platform would require extensive training programs, revised procedures, and change-management activities across facilities and administrative units to ensure staff adoption and correct system usage.

Special Procurement_ Req-DASOBO-00168232_ N.Harris_ Page 5

• Parallel system operation during transition – For accuracy and risk mitigation, agencies often operate both the legacy and replacement systems concurrently during validation phases, which increases operational workload and temporary costs.

Collectively, these factors indicate that replacing the current system would represent a major financial investment and organizational undertaking, substantially exceeding the cost and risk associated with continuing to operate and support the existing Syscon Elite platform. Unless a compelling failure condition exists, maintaining and strategically modernizing the current platform is the lower-risk, fiscally responsible, and operationally stable course of action.

12. Findings to Satisfy the Required Standards: This proposed special procurement:

__X___ (a) will be unlikely to encourage favoritism in the awarding of public contracts or to substantially diminish competition for public contracts because:

Over the years, this System has been customized due to statutorily mandated requirements. There does not appear to be a product on the open market that would be able to be used “off the shelf” without significant modifications to multiple ODOC systems.

and

_X__ (b)(i) will result in substantial cost savings to the contracting agency or to the public because:

Replacing a mature, customized implementation of Syscon Elite would constitute:

• A multi-year enterprise transformation

• High financial and operational cost

• Elevated safety and legal risks

• Reimplementation of statutory complexity

• Intensive data migration and validation or

____ (b)(ii) will otherwise substantially promote the public interest in a manner that could not practicably be realized by complying with the requirements of ORS 279B.055, 279B.060, 279B.065, or 279B.070, or any rules adopted thereunder because:

Special Procurement_ Req-DASOBO-00168232_ N.Harris_ Page 6

13. Signature: The actual signature of the Agency Head or designee (e.g., Designated Procurement Officer) is not required on the Request if it is submitted through OregonBuys®. Agency may elect to attach a signed Request.

Signature: e.g. Electronically in OregonBuys® _________________ Type Name: Date:

[PART B: The Department of Administrative Services inserts Part B including any conditions of approval.

Delete the instructional text in italics before sending to DAS]

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