§103D-702 Authority to debar or suspend. (a) After reasonable notice to the person involved and reasonable opportunity for that person to be heard, the chief procurement officer, after consultation with the using agency and the attorney general or corporation counsel, may debar a person for cause from consideration for award of all public contracts and from performance on any public contract. The serious nature of debarment and suspension requires that these sanctions be imposed only in the public interest for a governmental body's protection and not for the purpose of punishment. An agency shall impose debarment or suspension to protect a governmental body's interests and only for cause and in accordance with this section. The debarment period shall not exceed three years. The same officer, after consultation with the using agency and the attorney general or corporation counsel, may suspend a person from consideration for award of all public contracts and from performance on any public contract if there is probable cause for debarment. The suspension period shall not exceed three months. The authority to debar or suspend shall be exercised in accordance with the procedures prescribed by rules adopted by the policy board and shall be applied only to causes, convictions, and violations under subsection (b) after the effective date of the rules adopted by the policy board.
(b) The causes for debarment or suspension include the following:
(c) The existence of a cause for debarment does not necessarily require that a contractor be debarred. The seriousness of a contractor's acts or omissions and any remedial measure or mitigating factors shall be considered in making any debarment decision. Before arriving at any debarment decision, the chief procurement officer shall consider factors such as the following:
The existence or nonexistence of any mitigating factors or remedial measures such as those set forth in this subsection shall not necessarily be determinative of a contractor's present responsibility. If a cause for debarment exists, the contractor has the burden of demonstrating to the satisfaction of the chief procurement officer the contractor's present responsibility and that debarment is not necessary.
(d) The chief procurement officer shall issue a written decision to debar or suspend. The decision shall:
(e) A copy of the decision under subsection (d) shall be mailed or otherwise furnished immediately to the debarred or suspended person and any other party intervening.
(f) The chief procurement officer shall transmit a copy of the decision to debar or suspend a contractor to the state procurement office, which shall distribute a list to all governmental bodies containing the names of persons or firms debarred or suspended from consideration for award of all public contracts and from performance on any public contract.
(g) Upon written notification under subsection (f), the chief procurement officer shall make a written determination whether to allow the debarred or suspended person or firm to continue performance on any contract awarded prior to the effective date of the debarment or suspension.
(h) A decision under subsection (d) shall be final and conclusive, unless the debarred or suspended person commences an administrative proceeding under section 103D-709. [L Sp 1993, c 8, pt of §2; am L 1997, c 352, §23; am L 1999, c 162, §2; am L 2004, c 216, §2]