Department
District Attorney
Requested Action (Identify appropriate Action or Motion, purpose, cost, timeframe, etc.)
title
Request approval to award a contract without competition - Office of the District Attorney, 21SS09212021, FileOnQ in the amount of $103,723.00 to provide centralized online inventory and tracking system for evidence for the Office of the District Attorney. Effective upon BOC approval. This project is 100% grant funded. (APPROVED UPON ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT AGENDA)
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Requirement for Board Action (Cite specific Board policy, statute or code requirement)
In accordance with Purchasing Code Section 102-384, after conducting a good faith review and the Purchasing Department has determined there is only one source available for the required supply, service or construction item, the request shall be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners for approval.
Strategic Priority Area related to this item (If yes, note strategic priority area below)
Justice and Safety
Commission Districts Affected
All Districts ☒
District 1 ☐
District 2 ☐
District 3 ☐
District 4 ☐
District 5 ☐
District 6 ☐
Is this a purchasing item?
Yes
Summary & Background
Scope of Work: Scope of Work: This request is to provide centralized online inventory and tracking system for evidence. The District Attorney’s office is the custodian for over 500,000 pieces of evidence that are used in trial and appellate cases. The evidence is currently kept in a myriad of offices and closets in the District Attorney’s Office. The evidence is scattered without a centralized electronic system and it can take days to find critical evidence needed for trials. This project will efficiently and effectively catalog and inventory over 500,000 plus pieces of evidence and will ensure that evidence can be quickly located for trials. FileOnQ is uniquely qualified for the project because 80% of all evidence in FCDA originated with the City of Atlanta Police Department (APD). FileOnQ began their work in March of 2008 for the City of Atlanta and is the largest evidence management database for the City of Atlanta creating a centralized evidence management database. By utilizing FileOnQ’s existing database of evidence for APD, the FCDA will not have to manually enter 80% of evidence details into a database; the FCDA can search for evidence in the FileOnQ APD system and immediately connect the information to the evidence in FCDA’s office. After conducting a review, the Chief Purchasing Agent has determined that based on that review and the justification provided, this request meets the criteria and adheres to 2 CFR 200.320(f) Procurement by noncompetitive proposals for sole source designation.
Community Impact: Under Section 17-5-55, the Superior Court of Fulton County designated the District Attorney as the evidence custodian for all criminal trial evidence upon the completion of the case but the designation is without financial resources and recommendations for inventory, storage or policies. See Administrative Order 2015-EX-01675. In the years since the order was enacted in 2015, no funding has been allocated to the district attorney’s office in support of evidence inventory. As the evidence custodian, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has retained thousands of case files and pieces of evidence over the years. None of the evidence has been tracked in a centralized online file management system; evidence is kept in several locations without uniform protocols and security in place. Evidence to include guns and drugs dating back to the 1970’s were dropped in boxes and moved into different rooms around the court house or in storage rooms and closets of the offices of the District Attorney and in outside warehouses. The physical evidence nor the locations were properly identified. Without cataloging, the evidence is extremely hard to locate and therefore, becomes inaccessible. Additionally, paper files are not co-located with the associated physical evidence. Currently, the physical evidence, stored in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, is piled high without adequate room nor is there room to begin to catalog physical evidence. Even if an attorney may find the paper file, they would then have to search in several separate locations for the physical evidence without assistance from a cataloging system. The need to find missing evidence is critical and the inability to find evidence in a timely manner greatly hinders the criminal justice system. With Cold Case, Conviction Integrity, and Appeals, old cases are being reexamined and all associated evidence must be identified and examined. The CIU unit may need test or retest any physical evidence.
Department Recommendation: Request approval to award a contract
Project Implications: Locating evidence has proved to be extremely time-consuming and without a system, almost impossible; Appeals attorneys have run into situations where they have had to seek continuances from the court to track down evidence. They have run into due process allegations.
Community Issues/Concerns: No concerns that the DA is aware of
Department Issues/Concerns: No concerns
Contract Modification: This is a new request.
Contract & Compliance Information (Provide Contractor and Subcontractor details.)
Not Applicable
Exhibits Attached (Provide copies of originals, number exhibits consecutively, and label all exhibits in the upper right corner.)
Exhibit 1: Department Sole Source Justification Memo
Exhibit 2: Purchasing Approval for Federal Grant Sole Source
Contact Information (Type Name, Title, Agency and Phone)
title
Natalie Zellner, JD, Director of Grants and Government Affairs, Office of the Fulton County District Attorney, (404) 612-4639
Contract Attached
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No
Previous Contracts
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No
Total Contract Value
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Original Approved Amount: |
$0.00 |
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Previous Adjustments: |
$0.00 |
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This Request: |
$103,723.00 |
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TOTAL: |
$103,723.00 |
Grant Information Summary
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Amount Requested: |
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Cash |
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Match Required: |
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In-Kind |
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Approval to Award |
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☐ |
Apply & Accept |
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Fiscal Impact / Funding Source
Funding Line 1:
461-480-IP21: Grant, District Attorney, Object Code is missing
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Overall Contractor Performance Rating: Vendor has not previously performed any services for the County
Would you select/recommend this vendor again?
Choose an item.
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