Texas Local Government Code - LOC GOV'T § 262.030. Alternative Competitive Proposal Procedure for Certain Goods and Services

(a) Except for Subsection (d) of this section, the competitive proposal procedure provided by this section may be used for the purchase of insurance, high technology items, and the following special services:

(b) Quotations must be solicited through a request for proposals. Public notice for the request for proposals must be made in the same manner as provided in the competitive bidding procedure. The request for proposals must specify the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors. The award of the contract shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined to be the lowest and best evaluated offer resulting from negotiation, taking into consideration the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals.

(c) If provided in the request for proposals, proposals shall be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competing offerors and kept secret during the process of negotiation. All proposals that have been submitted shall be available and open for public inspection after the contract is awarded, except for trade secrets and confidential information contained in the proposals and identified as such.

(d) A county in which a purchasing agent has been appointed under Section 262.011 or employed under Section 262.0115 may use the competitive proposal purchasing method authorized by this section for the purchase of insurance or high technology items. In addition, the method may be used to purchase other items when the county official who makes purchases for the county determines, with the consent of the commissioners court, that it is in the best interest of the county to make a request for proposals.

(e) As provided in the request for proposals and under rules adopted by the commissioners court, discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award. Offerors must be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals, and revisions may be permitted after submission and before award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers.