1. The requesting department shall prepare a requisition form in triplicate. The requisition shall contain any specifications for an item as deemed necessary by the requesting department. The form shall be prescribed by the State Auditor and Inspector;

2. The requesting department shall retain a copy of the requisition and forward the original requisition and a copy to the county purchasing agent; and

3. Upon receipt of the requisition, the county purchasing agent, within two (2) working days, shall begin the bidding and purchasing process as provided for in this section. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the transfer of supplies, materials, or equipment between county departments upon a written agreement between county officers.

1. The county purchasing agent shall request written recommendations from all county officers pertaining to needed or commonly used supplies, materials, road and bridge construction services, equipment and information technology and telecommunication goods and services. From such recommendations and available requisition, purchase, or inventory records, the county purchasing agent shall prepare a list of items needed or commonly used by county officers. The county purchasing agent shall request from the Purchasing Division or from the Information Services Division in the case of information technology and telecommunication goods and services of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services all contracts quoting the price the state is paying for the items. The county purchasing agent shall either request the Purchasing Division or the Information Services Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, as applicable, to make the purchase for the county or the county purchasing agent shall solicit bids for unit prices on the items for periods of not to exceed twelve (12) months in the manner described in paragraph 2 of this subsection. If the county purchasing agent receives a requisition for an item for which the county purchasing agent does not have a current bid, the county purchasing agent shall request from the Purchasing Division or the Information Services Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, as applicable, all contracts quoting the price the state is paying for the item. The county purchasing agent shall either request the Purchasing Division or the Information Services Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, as applicable, to make the purchase for the county or the county purchasing agent shall solicit bids in the manner described in paragraph 2 of this subsection. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit bids from being taken on an item currently on a twelve-month bid list, at any time deemed necessary by the county purchasing agent. Whenever the county purchasing agent deems it necessary to take a bid on an item currently on a twelve-month bid list, the reason for the bid shall be entered into the minutes of the board of county commissioners;

2. Bids shall be solicited by mailing or emailing a notice to all persons or firms who have made a written request of the county purchasing agent that they be notified of such bid solicitation and to all other persons or firms who might reasonably be expected to submit bids. Notice of solicitation of bids shall also be published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Notices shall be mailed and published at least ten (10) days prior to the date on which the bids are opened. Proof of the mailing or emailing shall be made by the affidavit of the person mailing or emailing the request for bids and shall be made a part of the official records of the county purchasing agent. The notice shall specify whether the county will consider written bids, electronic bids, or both; the decision to exclusively consider either written bids or electronic bids shall be determined pursuant to an affirmative vote of the board of county commissioners. Whenever any prospective supplier or vendor dealing in or listing for sale any particular item or article required to be purchased or acquired by sealed bids fails to enter or offer a sealed bid for three successive bid solicitations, the name of the supplier or vendor may be dropped from the mailing lists of the board of county commissioners;

3. The sealed bids received from vendors and the state contract price received from the applicable Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shall be given to the county clerk by the county purchasing agent. The county clerk shall forward the sealed bids and state contract price, if any, to the board of county commissioners;

4. The board of county commissioners, in an open meeting, shall open the sealed bids and compare them to the state contract price. The board of county commissioners shall select the lowest and best bid based upon, if applicable, the availability of material and transportation cost to the job site within thirty (30) days of the meeting. For any special item not included on the list of needed or commonly used items, the requisitioning official shall review the bids and submit a written recommendation to the board before final approval. The board of county commissioners shall keep a written record of the meeting as required by law, and any time the lowest bid was not considered to be the lowest and best bid, the reason for such conclusion shall be recorded. Whenever the board of county commissioners rejects the written recommendation of the requisitioning official pertaining to a special item, the reasons for the rejection shall be entered in their minutes and stated in a letter to the requisitioning official and county purchasing agent;

5. The county purchasing agent shall notify the successful bidders and shall maintain a copy of the notification. The county purchasing agent shall prepare and maintain a vendors list specifying the successful bidders and shall notify each county officer of the list. The county purchasing agent may remove any vendor from such list who refuses to provide goods or services as provided by contract if the removal is authorized by the board of county commissioners. The county purchasing agent may make purchases from the successful bidders for a price at or below the bid price. If a vendor who is the low bidder cannot or will not sell goods or services as required by a county bid contract, the county purchasing agent may make a one-time purchase from the next lowest or best quote or take quotations as provided in paragraph 6 of this subsection; provided, however, such purchase does not exceed Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) as the amount specified in subparagraph a of paragraph 3 of subsection A of Section 1501 of this title; and

6. When bids have been solicited as provided for by law and no bids have been received, the procedure shall be as follows:

1. The county purchasing agent shall prepare a purchase order in quadruplicate and submit it with a copy of the requisition to the county clerk;

2. The county clerk shall then encumber the amount stated on the purchase order and assign a sequential number to the purchase order;

3. If there is an unencumbered balance in the appropriation made for that purpose by the county excise board, the county clerk shall so certify in the following form:

“I hereby certify that the amount of this encumbrance has been entered against the designated appropriation accounts and that this encumbrance is within the authorized available balance of the appropriation.

4. The county clerk shall file the original purchase order and return three copies to the county purchasing agent who shall file a copy, retain a copy for the county road and bridge inventory officer if the purchase order is for the purchase of equipment, supplies, or materials for the construction or maintenance of roads and bridges, and submit the other copy to the receiving officer of the requesting department.

D. 1. The procedure for the purchase of supplies, materials, equipment and information technology and telecommunication goods and services at public auction or by sealed bid to be used by a county shall be as follows:

2. The procedure for the purchase of supplies, materials and equipment at a public auction when the purchase will be made with the proceeds from the sale of county property at the same public auction are as follows:

1. A receiving officer for the requesting department shall be responsible for receiving all items delivered to that department;

2. Upon the delivery of an item, the receiving officer shall determine if a purchase order exists for the item being delivered;

3. If no such purchase order has been provided, the receiving officer shall refuse delivery of the item;

4. If a purchase order is on file, the receiving officer shall obtain a delivery ticket, bill of lading, or other delivery document and compare it with the purchase order. If any item is back-ordered, the back order and estimated date of delivery shall be noted in the receiving report;

5. The receiving officer shall complete a receiving report in quadruplicate which shall state the quantity and quality of goods delivered. The receiving report form shall be prescribed by the State Auditor and Inspector. The person delivering the goods shall acknowledge the delivery by signature, noting the date and time;

6. The receiving officer shall file the original receiving report and submit:

7. The county purchasing agent shall file a copy of the purchase order and a copy of the receiving report;

8. Upon receipt of the original receiving report and the delivery documentation, the county clerk shall maintain a file until such time as an invoice is received from the vendor;

9. The invoice shall state the name and address of the vendor and must be sufficiently itemized to clearly describe each item purchased, the unit price when applicable, the number or volume of each item purchased, the total price, the total purchase price, and the date of the purchase;

10. Upon receipt of an invoice, the county clerk shall compare the following documents:

The documents shall be available for public inspection during regular business hours; and

11. If the documents conform as to the quantity and quality of the items, the county clerk shall prepare a warrant for payment according to procedures provided for by law.

1. The purchasing agent shall be allowed up to three (3) days to process purchase orders to be presented to the board of county commissioners for consideration and payment. Nothing herein shall prevent the purchasing agent from processing or the board of county commissioners from consideration and payment of utilities, travel claims and payroll claims;

2. The board of county commissioners shall consider the purchase orders so presented and act upon the purchase orders, by allowing in full or in part or by holding for further information or disallowing the same. The disposition of purchase orders shall be indicated by the board of county commissioners, showing the amounts allowed or disallowed and shall be signed by at least two members of the board of county commissioners. Any claim held over for further information shall be acted upon by allowing or disallowing same at any future meeting of the board held within seventy-five (75) days from the date of filing of the purchase order. Any purchase order not acted upon within the seventy-five (75) days from the date of filing shall be deemed to have been disallowed, but such disallowance shall not prevent the refiling of the purchase order at the proper time; and

3. Whenever any allowance, either in whole or in part, is made upon any purchase order presented to the board of county commissioners and is accepted by the person making the claim, such allowance shall be a full settlement of the entire purchase order and provided that the cashing of warrant shall be considered as acceptance by the claimant.

1. For consumable road or bridge items or materials, a quarterly report of the road and bridge projects completed during such period shall be prepared and kept on file by the consuming department. The quarterly report may be prepared and kept electronically by the consuming department. The report shall contain a record of the date, the place, and the purpose for the use of the road or bridge items or materials. For purposes of identifying county bridges, the board of county commissioners shall number each bridge subject to its jurisdiction; and

2. For disposal of all equipment and information technology and telecommunication goods which originally cost more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), resolution of disposal shall be submitted by the officer on a form prescribed by the State Auditor and Inspector's Office to the board of county commissioners. The approval of the resolution of disposal shall be entered into the minutes of the board.