A Florida state appeals court reversed a Corrections Department d...
A Florida state appeals court reversed a Corrections Department decision to award an inmate payphone contract to Securus Technologies. The First Florida Court of Appeals ruled that the department violated the due process rights of Verizon Business and Global…
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Tel-Link when it rejected their challenges to the award. The companies contested the action, citing conflict of interest because the agency’s secretary had awarded the contract, testified on behalf of Securus during the protest hearings and then denied the bid challenges. The department also ignored its own administrative procedures for reviewing bids, they said. The court (Case 1D07-4603) agreed with the conflict claim, saying there was an inherent conflict when the agency secretary ruled on his own testimony in the bid challenges and then judged the fairness of his own initial decision. The court said the secretary referred to his own testimony to support his denial of the bid challenges. The court said the companies were denied their legal right to have their challenges decided by an impartial tribunal. The court reversed the denial of the challenges, remanding the case to the state agency for appointment of a neutral third party to handle the bid challenges.