State of Florida Department of Legal Affairs Solicitation Number: 14/15-4 Solicitation Title: Service of Process Amendment Number: 5 Date: 01/16/2015 PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE FOLLOWING CHANGES ARE APPLICABLE TO THE ORIGINAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ABOVE-REFERENCED SOLICITATION AND NOW BECOME A PART OF THE ORIGINAL SOLICITATION. Written Responses To Inquiries Failure to file a protest within the time prescribed in Section 120.57(3), Florida Statutes, or failure to post the bond or other security required by law within the time allowed for filing a bond shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.
Written Responses to Inquiries OAG ITB 14/15-4 Service of Process Question #1 Answer #1 Question #2 Answer #2 Question #3 Answer #3 Question #4 Answer #4 Question #5 Answer #5 Question #6 Answer #6 Is the OAG e-filing the original action? The Department will file the original petition, but the awarded contractor will be required to file the affidavit with the courts in accordance with Section 2 of the ITB statement of work. What documents will the contractor be responsible to obtain from the courts? The contractor will not be responsible for obtaining documents from the court. Documents will be provided to the contractor by the Department. Will the contractor be responsible for e-filing the return of services? Section 2 (1) of the statement of work requires service of process to be filed with the courts, in accordance with the requirements of the court. Electronic filing is required unless the court is unable to accept electronic filings, in which case, filing will be done in accordance with the requirements of the court. Will OAG accept copies of the return of services instead of originals? * This will allow for electronic data integration with the contractor*allowing faster response time with contractor No, the original will be required for submission of the invoice, but should not affect the service of process processing time. Is there a contractor in-place for this particular RFP currently? If so, can we obtain a copy of the current contract and pricing? There is no contract in place that matches the requirements of the current solicitation, but contracts similar in scope to this solicitation may be viewed online at http://www.myfloridalegal.com/ctrsweb.nsf/d2c7053738d89b4785257c5c0078cfa0!createdocument Is the Service of Process for Summons or Subpoenas, or both? This solicitation is for service of all document types.
Question #7 Answer #7 What is the current expected volume by Florida County? In state vs. out-of state? The breakdown of volume is expected to be 80% in state and 20% out of state. In state expenditures for 2013-2014 FY by judicial circuit is as follows: Question #8 Answer #8 Question #9 Does the OAG have CMS currently that contractor could connect to for exchange of data electronically? If so, what is the name of the CMS? The Department does not have a content management system available for use by the vendors. "Pricing shall be based upon a flat fee, regardless of number of attempts, and number of locations attempted. Industry standards of process serving are based on payment by locations attempted. This contract appears to want pricing regardless of "location attempted." Is this correct? This method would tend to make the initial cost of service higher unnecessarily. Other similar contracts by the state of Florida pay by location attempted. Answer #9 Please see revised ITB statement of work Section (2)(2). Question #10 Answer #10 Question #11 What type of process service work is this? (DCF, Child Support, etc.) This solicitation and subsequent contract will be available for use by all Department sections and could be considered for alternate contract source for use by other agencies in the future. See also response to question 6. Approximately how many requests per month will there be? (In Florida and Outside Florida) Answer #11 Please refer to question 7.
Question #12 Answer #12 Question #13 Answer #13 Question #14 From which OAG offices will the requests originate from? All Department locations will be able to submit requests. Requests will be submitted through the contractor's secure website and online service. Will the documents be emailed to us or do we need to pick them up? What addresses will need pick up and how often? Section 2(1) of the statement of work states the Department shall request service of process from the Contractor electronically through the contractor's secure website and online service. Will we be required to issue documents at the courthouse or will they be issued when we receive? Answer #14 Please refer to questions 1 and 2. Question #15 Notary is not required per statute 92.525(2) Answer#15 Question #16 Answer #16 Question #17 The Department requires notarization of the affidavit under the terms of this solicitation and contract. The ITB has areas of service as Florida and the U.S. The contract includes outside the U.S. as per the Hague Convention. Which is correct. The terms of the solicitation and subsequent contract include the three service areas identified in Section 2 of the statement of work. Section 4.1 of the solicitation defines that only service areas 1 and 2 will be used to determine award. If service is required outside the U.S., the documents to be served may require translation into the language where served and may additionally take up to 6 months to serve. There is no notary available outside the U.S. Answer #17 Please see revised ITB statement of work Sections 2 and 4. Question #18 Your template of service only lists 3 attempts while your contract requires 5 attempts. Answer #18 Please see revised ITB Attachment C - Affidavit of Service Question #19 Our return of service has been approved by all Florida courts. Your return is on 2 pages while ours is on 1 and contains all of the required information. Can it be used? Answer #19 Pursuant to Section 2 (3) of the contract, the Department reserves the right to require the use of a specific return of service form. At this time, the Department requires the use of Revised Attachment C - Affidavit of Service.
Question #20 Answer #20 Question #21 Answer #21 Question #22 Answer #22 Question #23 Your return of service states that documents are to be mailed. Please be more specific. Please see revised ITB Attachment C - Affidavit of Service In the contract, Payments 4.2 should be omitted. No, the contractor is responsible for all fees they incur in the performance of the contract. Section 4.2 of the contract will remain. Invoice states that return be electronically submitted to the court. Not all counties have implemented their program permitting process servers to do so. Please see revised ITB Attachment D Invoice Multiple addresses may be in more than one county which may require service attempted by 2 servers at the same time. Answer #23 Please see revised ITB statement of work Section 2 (2). Question #24 Answer #24 Question #25 Answer #25 Chapter 48 does not permit an individual to be served at a place of business to a person in charge. It is the vendor s responsibility to serve in compliance with Chapter 48, Florida Statutes. Substitute service at a business, as described in the affidavit, may be appropriate depending on the type of business, the party being served, and the type of legal action that the service is related to. Are we correct in assuming that we will not be serving in motion and order counties? No, the terms of the solicitation and subsequent contract include the three service areas identified in Section 2 of the statement of work.