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Consent Agenda Item 4. C.

Regular BOS Meeting

Meeting Date:	08/04/2020
Submitted For:	Jonathan Bearup	Submitted By:	Jonathan Bearup, Court Administrator
Department:	Superior Court	Division:	Superior Court Administration

Information

Request/Subject

Indigent Defense Services for Gila County for FY 2021.

Background Information

In 2014, Court Administration, in the course of the reorganization, discovered that there were no actual contracts for those professional service vendors then providing indigent defense representation in Gila County. Working closely with County Finance, that situation was remedied. In 2019, Court Administration, having a fiduciary responsibility to the County and desiring to undertake a full procurement process, contacted County Finance to initiate a request for qualifications to legitimize the selection of vendors.

On July 7, 2020, Court Administration presented a series of recommendations to the Board for the award of indigent defense contracts. In total, nine contracts were awarded to indigent defense attorneys at that meeting. This item contains proposed contracts for the remainder of those attorneys.

Evaluation

After careful analysis of case filing/processing statistics, the systems and compensation employed in other counties, and the opinions of Court leadership, a new model was adopted and approved by the Presiding Judge.

Court Administration provided information on scope, a request for qualifications was produced by Finance's Procurement office and a request to advertise was approved by this Board on February 4, 2020. A total of twenty-four attorneys responded were evaluated by Court staff. The majority of the attorney contracts were approved by the Board at a regular meeting on July 7, 2020; the remainder of those contracts are now before the Board for consideration.

Conclusion

Court Administration, after undergoing the procurement process, produced a series of recommendations for indigent defense contracts that would, in the Court's opinion, serve the best interests of the County. The contracts before the Board today represent the final group of awards consistent with the previous recommendation:

Michael Bernays
Harriette Levitt
Barry Standifird
Jonathan Warshaw

Recommendation

Court Administration recommends that the Board of Supervisors accept the recommendations and award contracts to the vendors identified therein.

Suggested Motion

Approval to award indigent defense contracts to the following attorneys, which are based upon the recommendations of Court Administration: Michael Bernays, Harriette Levitt, Barry Standifird, and Jonathan Warshaw.

Attachments
Professional Services Contract No. 061420
Professional Services Contract No. 061520-1
Professional Services Contract No. 060720
Professional Services Contract No. 061220