Report 2014-301 Recommendations

To improve its payment practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should establish clear procedures for ensuring that appropriate staff sign and authorize all payments prior to processing. It should ensure that staff follows these procedures and that managers do not approve payments above their authorized dollar limits.

To improve its payment practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should prohibit staff from purchasing unauthorized goods or services.

To improve its payment practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should only make advance payments under the conditions that the judicial contracting manual allows.

To improve its payment practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should ensure that all purchases are for allowable purposes.

To improve its payment practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should ensure that it adheres to the $1,500 single transaction limit for all Cal-Card purchases.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should ensure that it either anticipates contracts expiring and competitively rebids them timely or establishes proper noncompetitive amendments to the contracts as the judicial contracting manual specifies.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should ensure that it maintains proper documentation in its procurement files to justify its decisions to enter into noncompetitive procurements.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Alameda court should adopt procedures to implement the small business preference for competitive information technology procurements by December 31, 2014.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Fresno court should ensure that it maintains proper documentation in its procurement files to justify its decisions to enter into sole-source contracts and to demonstrate that it received fair and reasonable prices.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Fresno court should use the appropriate solicitation method for the dollar value of the procurements it seeks.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Fresno court should ensure that it conducts competitive procurements when it establishes blanket purchase orders of $5,000 or more.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Fresno court should ensure that staff does not approve payments for amounts greater than their authorized limits.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Fresno court should adopt procedures to implement the State's DVBE program and the small business preference for competitive information technology procurements by December 31, 2014.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the San Luis Obispo court should solicit competitive bids for procurements of $5,000 or more when required to do so.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the San Luis Obispo court should ensure that it maintains proper documentation in its procurement files to justify its decisions to enter into noncompetitive procurements, including sole-source contracts.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the San Luis Obispo court should take steps to ensure that pricing it receives is fair and reasonable when it uses leveraged procurement agreements and document these steps in its procurement files.

To improve its procurement practices and comply with the judicial contracting manual, the Yuba court should ensure that it maintains proper documentation in its procurement files to justify its decisions to enter into sole-source contracts.