An in-person Procurement Workshop will be conducted by Pierce County staff at the time, date, and location as indicated in the Procurement Schedule section of this RFP.Pre-proposal meeting attendance will be required for all organizations considering a response to this solicitation. It is the County’s belief that attending the meeting will assist proposers in presenting the best possible request for funding. During the Pre-Proposal Meeting Workshop, Pierce County staff will give an overview of the procurement, the procurement process, an overview of the requirements, and will also be available to answer questions and provide technical assistance. Please have the instruction/proposal packet available as well as any questions that the organization may have related to the procurement. The County will be bound only to written answers provided in response to questions. Questions arising during the Procurement Workshop will be documented and answered in the eProcurement Portal. The date and time for the site visit will be released via notification from OpenGov at a later date.

The County reserves the right at its sole discretion to reject any and all proposals received without penalty and not to issue a contract as a result of this RFP.

This RFP does not obligate the County to contract for services specified herein.

PROPOSERS WHO REGISTER AND DOWNLOAD RFP DOCUMENTS will be automatically added to the FOLLOWERS' list in the County's eProcurement Portal. Notifications for solicitation updates, addendum and other procurement information will be sent to all who register on the Pierce County eProcurement Portal.

An Application Evaluation Committee (AEC) will review the bidding documents and evaluate all responses received based upon the criteria listed herein. The County may request clarifications or additional information, if needed. The proposer determined to be most qualified through the initial evaluation phase may be interviewed and the final determination will also consider reference checks and interviews.The County intends to select the Contractor most qualified for this pursuit/solicitation and begin the negotiation and award process based on the requirements of this solicitation.Proposals will be evaluated and, if multiple proposers are deemed capable of meeting the requirements, interviews may be held with the top three proposers.Selected Proposer(s) will be invited to enter into contract negotiations with the County. Should the County and the selected proposer not reach a mutual agreement, the County will terminate negotiations and move to the next ranked contractor and proceed with negotiations. A Proposer’s inability to agree to the terms of the County’s standard contract may be a basis for the County to terminate negotiations and begin negotiating with one or more other Contractors.

Pierce County (hereafter known as 'the County') is seeking proposals from vendors to provide commissary services for the Correctional Facilities at the Pierce County Jail.

Welcome to Pierce County's eProcurement System. This system is inclusive to the procurement process, including submission of any questions and/or clarifications, the release of any addenda/notices, and submission of proposals. It is strongly encouraged that organizations responding to any procurement first read the entire procurement, paying close attention to the timelines, scope of work, eligibility, submission requirements, and specifically to the questionnaire section, which may include required attachments (when applicable), and ask for any clarifications regarding content and instructions early in the process.

The County reserves the right to make an award without further discussion of the proposal submitted. Therefore, the proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms which the Proposer can offer. There will be no best and final offer procedure.The ASP should be prepared to accept this RFP for incorporation into a contract resulting from this RFP. Contract negotiations may incorporate some or all of the Proposer’s proposal. It is understood that the proposal will become a part of the official procurement file on this matter without obligation to the County.

The Washington State Interlocal Cooperation Act, Ch. 39.34 RCW, authorizes public agencies to cooperatively purchase goods and services if all parties agree. By responding to this RFP, Consultants agree that other public agencies may purchase goods and services under this procurement or contract at their own cost and without Pierce County incurring any financial or legal liability for such purchases. Pierce County agrees to allow other public agencies to purchase goods and services under this procurement or contract, provided that Pierce County is not held financially or legally liable for purchases and that any public agency purchasing under such procurement or contract file a copy of this invitation and such contract in accordance with RCW 39.34.040.

Protests may be made only by Proposers or authorized representative of a Proposer who submitted a response to this solicitation document and who have participated in a debriefing conference. Upon completing the debriefing conference, the Proposer is allowed five (5) business days to file with the Procurement Coordinator a protest of the award decision. Protests must be received by the Procurement Coordinator no later than 3:30 PM, local time in Tacoma, Washington on the fifth business day following the debriefing. Protests must be in writing, addressed to the Procurement Coordinator, and submitted by email to PCSHSprocurement@piercecountywa.gov. The protest must state the RFP number, the grounds for the protest with specific facts and complete statements of the action(s) being protested. A description of the relief or corrective action being requested should also be included.Protests that do not follow these procedures shall not be considered. This protest procedure constitutes the sole administrative remedy available to Proposers under this procurement.Only protests stipulating an issue of fact concerning the following subjects shall be considered:A matter of bias, discrimination, or conflict of interest on the part of an evaluator.Errors in computing the score.Non-compliance with procedures described in the procurement document or County policy.Protests not based on procedural matters will not be considered. Protests will be rejected as without merit if they address issues such as: 1) an evaluator’s professional judgment on the quality of a proposal, or 2) County’s assessment of its own needs or requirements.Upon receipt of a protest, a protest review will be held by the County. The Finance Department Director or an employee delegated by the Director who was not involved in the procurement will consider the record and all available facts and issue a decision within five (5) business days of receipt of the protest. If additional time is required, the protesting party will be notified of the delay. In the event a protest may affect the interest of another Proposer who also submitted a proposal, such Proposer will be given an opportunity to submit its views and any relevant information on the protest to the Procurement Coordinator. The final determination of the protest shall:Find the protest lacking in merit and uphold the County’s action; orFind only technical or harmless errors in County’s procurement process and determine County to be in substantial compliance and reject the protest; orFind merit in the protest and provide the County options which may include:Correct the errors and re-evaluate all proposals, and/orReissue the solicitation document and begin a new process, orMake other findings and determine other courses of action as appropriate.If a protest is filed, the County will wait to execute the contract until a final determination on the protest is made.

Any Proposer, who was not disqualified, who has submitted a proposal and been notified that they were not selected as an ASP may request a debriefing. The request for a debriefing conference must be received by the Procurement Coordinator within 5 days of having been notified that they were not selected.Discussion at the debriefing conference will be limited to the following:Evaluation and scoring of the Proposal.Critique of the requesting Proposer’s Proposal based on the comments made by the Application Evaluation Committee or individual comments made by an evaluator; andReview of Proposer’s final score in comparison with other final scores without identifying the other firms.Comparisons between proposals or evaluations of the other proposals will not be allowed. Debriefing conferences may be conducted in person or remotely and will be scheduled for a maximum of one (1) hour.

This procedure is available to potential Proposers who are contemplating submitting a proposal in response to this RFP. Only Concern Resolution submissions (Submissions) concerning the following subjects shall be considered:A claim that the solicitation unnecessarily restricts competition.A claim the solicitation evaluation or scoring process is unfair or flawed, orA claim the solicitation requirements are inadequate or insufficient to prepare a response.Proposers submitting a concern about this procurement shall follow the procedures described below. Submissions that do not follow these procedures shall not be considered. If a Proposer registers a concern against this solicitation, the issue(s) cannot be raised again during the protest period.All submissions must be in writing and signed by the submitting party or an authorized Agent. The submission must be sent to the AGENCY Procurement Coordinator, or designee, and needs to be received no later than 4:30 PM, local time, Tacoma, WA, per Section 2.2 Timeline, and must clearly articulate the basis for the submission. The Proposer submitting a concern must also include a proposed remedy.Upon receipt of a submission, a submission review will be held by the County. The RFP coordinator will respond to submissions in writing and the Finance Department Director will be notified of all submissions and provided a copy of the County’s response. A copy of the response to the submission, including any changes to the solicitation, will also be posted in County's eProcurement Portal.The concern resolution process does not include an appeal process.

The County complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Bidders should contact the RFP Coordinator to request an accommodation.

Pierce County is located in the State of Washington and has a population of approximately 900,000. The Sheriff's Office is the largest law enforcement agency in Pierce County and is responsible for policing the unincorporated areas of the County, as well as operating the second largest jail in the State.Corrections is a Division of the County Sheriff's Office and manages the safety and security of our citizens, staff and inmates by providing and managing progressive corrections services to inmates as we strive to meet the future correctional needs of the County. The average length of stay for an inmate is two weeks and there are approximately 15,000 bookings per year. The average daily population is approximately 800+ inmates.The PC Jail consists of two facilities:Maximum-security facility, located at 910 Tacoma Avenue South, Tacoma, WA 98402 Minimum-security facility, located at 701 Nollmeyer Lane, Tacoma, WA 98402 The PC Jail operates with a full capacity of 1,296 inmates.The maximum-security facility has an average population of 577 The minimum-security facility has an average population of 521

The County will not be liable for any costs incurred by the Proposer in preparation of a proposal submitted in response to this RFP, in conduct of a presentation or interview, or any other activities related to responding to this RFP.

Pierce County, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. 2000d to 2000d-4 and Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation, subtitle A, Office of the Secretary, Part 21, nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs of the Department of Transportation issued pursuant to such Act, hereby notifies all Proposers that it will affirmatively ensure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises as defined at 49 CFR Part 26 will be afforded full opportunity to submit proposals in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.

Proposers may submit questions through the County's eProcurement Portal, under the Question & Answer Section, no later than 4:30 pm on the date set forth in Section 2.2. Proposers must be registered in the eProcurement Portal software to submit questions, receive addendums and notifications, and ultimately submit a proposal. Proposers may only rely on written statements issued by the County. Any oral communications are unofficial and are not binding on the County.

The RFP Coordinator is the sole point of contact in the County for this procurement. All communications between the Proposer and the County upon release of this RFP shall be with the RFP Coordinator.Kimberly SmithProcurement and Contract Specialist 2Email: kimberly.smith@piercecountywa.govPhone: (253) 798-6015Department:Finance and Enterprise ServicesAny other communication will be considered unofficial and non-binding on the County. Proposers are to rely on written statements issued by the RFP Coordinator. Communication directed to parties other than the RFP Coordinator may result in disqualification of the Proposer.

The ASP will be expected to enter into a contract which is substantially the same as the Sample Contract and its General Terms and Conditions attached as Exhibit C. In no event is a Proposer to submit its own standard contract terms and conditions in response to this solicitation. If a Proposer has a concern regarding a certain General Term & Condition, they can raise the issue per the Questions and Answers section of this solicitation.

Proposers who do not meet these minimum qualifications will be considered non-responsive and their proposal will not be evaluated or scored.Proposers must be licensed to operate and provide services in Washington state

Organizations should be aware that any records they submit to the County or that are used by the County even if the organization possess the records, may be public records under the Washington Public Records Act (RCW 42.56). The County must promptly disclose public records upon request unless a statute exempts them from disclosure. Organizations should also be aware that if even a portion of a record is exempt from disclosure, generally, the rest of the record must be disclosed. Exemptions are narrow and specific.Organizations should clearly mark any record they believe is exempt from disclosure.

All proposals will be reviewed by the RFP Coordinator to determine compliance with administrative requirements and instructions specified in this solicitation. The Proposer is specifically notified that the County may reject or withdraw a proposal at any time as nonresponsive for any of the following reasons:Incomplete proposal,Failure to comply with any part of this solicitation or any Attachments to this procurement,Submission of incorrect, misleading, or false information.The County also reserves the right, however, at its sole discretion to waive minor administrative irregularities, which are defined as variances which do not provide an applicant an advantage or benefit over other applicants.

Through a resulting contract, the Contractor shall provide:Operations that are compliant with County Sheriff's security standards, adhere to the civil rights of inmates and reliable access to approved goods without interruption.Technology that integrates with the County jail system and the Inmate telecommunications system.Fair pricing and transparency of all costs.Accurate inmate accounting systems.Support for inmate welfare systems

The period of performance of any contract resulting from this procurement is expected to be 12 months from the contract date of execution. Amendments extending the period of performance, if any, shall be at the sole discretion of the County. The County reserves the option to renew contracts for 4 (four) additional 1 (one)-year terms. However, no Contractor will be guaranteed an extension. Decisions whether to extend a contract will be based on Pierce County’s assessment of the Contractor’s performance as evaluated by performance measure data as described in Section 4 of this solicitation, as well as any additional performance outcomes or deliverables negotiated in the final contract agreement.

The County will notify all proposers of the outcome of their proposal in writing upon completion of the evaluation process.

Proposals will be scored by consensus. Members of the AEC will score proposals individually and then meet to determine the final independent score for each proposal.In the event the AEC has clarifying questions for a proposer, they shall notify the Procurement Coordinator who will, in turn, send the question(s) to the appropriate proposer. The Procurement Coordinator shall provide a deadline for the answers and shall then notify the AEC members of the response. If members of the AEC wish to change their original scores based on the response to the clarifying question(s), they shall notify the Procurement Coordinator who shall determine the proper subsequent process.The County reserves the right to award the contract to any organization or combination of organizations whose proposal(s), in the opinion of the County, is in the best interest of the County.

Proposal Release Date:July 17, 2026Question Submission & Concern Resolution Request Deadline:July 31, 2026, 4:00pmProposal Submission Deadline:August 14, 2026, 4:00pm The time and date of the Pre-Proposal site visit will be sent via notification from OpenGov soon. The County reserves the right to revise the above timeline.

In the event it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFP, addenda will be published in the County's eProcurement Portal.All amendments and notifications of cancellation shall be posted in the County's eProcurement Portal. If you did not receive this solicitation via the County’s eProcurement Portal, please register there to receive further notifications.The County also reserves the right to amend or add to, retract from, or cancel this Procurement at any time, in whole or in part, and without penalty.In the event of a conflict between amendments or between an amendment and this Solicitation Document, the document issued latest in time shall control.

“Apparently Successful Proposer (ASP)” means a proposer selected as an entity to perform the anticipated services, subject to completion of contract negotiations and execution of a written contract."Applicant," "Bidder," and "Proposer" mean an organization, agency or provider that submits a formal response to this procurement."Application," "Bid," or "Proposal" mean a formal response to this solicitation. “CFR” means Code of Federal Regulations.“Client,” "Participant," "Household," or "Member" means an individual (or individuals) who receives services, or is eligible to receive services, under this procurement. “Contractor” means an individual or organization whose proposal has been accepted by the County and has been awarded a fully executed, written contract."Indigent" means low-income or financially underprivileged.“Procurement” means the process by which the County obtains services.“Request for Proposal (RFP)” or "Solicitation" means this document and its attachments in which needed goods and/or services are identified and organizations are invited to provide information as to how they propose to meet the County's needs. “RCW” means Revised Code of Washington."Spillman Integration" means Refers to the capabilities of Spillman Flex, a public safety software solution, to seamlessly connect and share data across various systems, enhancing operational efficiency for law enforcement and emergency response agencies.“WAC” means Washington Administrative Code.

The proposal must be received by the time/date as indicated in Section 2.2.

The total value of this procurement is $760,770.The County anticipates awarding a single contract from this procurement. The County reserves the right to make fewer awards or no awards, based on the quality and scope of proposals received, available funding, and identified service needs.The total funding available under this Request for Proposals (RFP) is limited and may be distributed among multiple providers. Proposers are encouraged to scale their funding requests proportionally to the scope and geographic reach of their proposed services. The County may negotiate budgets and service levels to ensure the most effective use of funds and equitable coverage across providers. The County reserves the right to adjust award amounts at its sole discretion.Additional federal, State, or local funds may become available during the contracting cycle and allocated through this solicitation. Funding may only be awarded for the same scope of services as described in this solicitation. It is important to note, any contract awarded as a result of this procurement is contingent upon the availability of funding. If at any time during the term of the contract the funding relied upon for the contract is reduced, modified, or eliminated, or if the funding terms are modified, Pierce County reserves the right to amend the contract as appropriate or to terminate the contract.

Contractor will provide commissary service to County on a weekly basis.Contractor will operate and manage its services provided under the contract at a location mutually agreed upon by the County and Contractor and keep its services adequately serviced and supplied all in accordance with the requirements incorporated herein and as detailed in the Contractor's proposal. The Contractor shall collect individual commissary orders placed by inmates once a week and provide delivery of orders to the Jail once per week, over two days to accommodate both facilities.Pickup and delivery shall be to the Pierce County Main Jail, located at 910 Tacoma Avenue South, Tacoma, WA.Individual orders must be delivered in clear-sealed plastic bags.Contractor shall provide a system which produces a receipt for all orders and transactions.All food and beverage products sold and delivered to the County Jail must be delivered for consumption prior to the expiration date, when so dated. Contractor shall notify the Correctional staff in advance of all deliveries and in accordance with the Jail directives issued from time-to-time.Corrections staff may inspect such deliveries with respect to quality, composition or any other matter relevant in the estimation of the security staff or the Chief or designee.Contractor shall allow purchase of phone time in conjunction with the vendor for the telecommunications contract in the Pierce County Jail.The Contractor is not permitted to make any alterations to, additions to, or removal of any walls, windows, floors, ceilings, doors or fixtures, without prior written approval of the Chief or designee. Windows and other openings are not to be covered with blinds or drapes without prior approval from the Chief or designee.

County shall provide Contractor with access to premises in order to provide the services required hereunder.The County shall not unreasonably deny the Contractor access to premises.In consideration of the security of the Pierce County Jail, the Chief or designee reserves the right to observe Contractor's operations and inspect the commissary related areas. The Contractor shall operate the commissary services program at full staffing and use only professionally trained personnel who have passed a criminal history background check conducted by the County. The County will have final approval rights for all proposed hires and reserves the right to bar any contractor employee from the facility at the sole discretion of the County.All Contractor employees shall wear the necessary identification while working within the Jails.Contractor shall provide a contingency plan for providing services in the event of lockdowns, strikes by the Contractor's employees, riots, fire, power failure or other catastrophic events that may curtail or impact on the normal operation of the jail.The Contractor and its employees will follow all Pierce County regulations, rules and standards and the County retains full and exclusive authority to determine which products may be offered or supplied. This authority includes all decisions regarding product design, labeling, packaging, and any form of advertising or marketingThe Contractor shall not utilize the Pierce County Jail for any operations unrelated to this agreement, unless approved in writing by the Chief or designee.

All proposals are evaluated on the completeness and quality of the content. Only those Proposers providing complete information as required will be considered for evaluation. The County will not contact the organization for correction of proposals and Proposers are strongly encouraged to carefully review their proposals for completeness and accuracy before submitting. For proposals to be considered responsive and move to the review process, the Proposer must, under Section 7, RFP Questionnaire:Acknowledge all required “confirmations.”Complete all required attachments, to include uploading any supplemental documents requested in attachments; and Submit the following materials as part of the proposal. (List the required attachments)

Technical InformationDuring the term of the resulting agreement, the successful Contractor shall supply the County with computer equipment and software to enable the County and inmates to access the Contractor's commissary network to account for inmate welfare funds maintained by the County and effect purchases by inmates from commissary supplies by the Contractor.The Contractor will furnish its own computer modems, auxiliary telephone lines, and office equipment at its own expense.Contractor will reimburse the County for existing monthly telephone services.During the term of the agreement, hardware will be installed and maintained by the Contractor and shall remain the sole property of Pierce County.The County owns the County data in the Contractor's system. The Contractor shall not utilize the County data for business or operating purposes and will not share County data with any third party Equipment shall include mounted, shared and one-to-one inmate tablets to include booking kiosk for inmate funds. At the termination of the agreement, all computer hardware and software shall be returned by the County to the vendor in the same condition, reasonable wear and tear is expected, as existed at the time the equipment was installed.Software SystemContractor is required to train County staff on the use and operation of the software.Contractor will provide initial training at no cost to the County; any subsequent training that may become necessary to account for officer turnover and rotations shall be provided by the County.Contractor shall provide technology enhancements at no additional cost.Software shall include: Resident controlsAbility to remain active on the computer when not in use. Inmate Accounting System Order entryCheck writingClosed accountsTracking inmates SecurityCost RecoveryReportsRequest Manager System (RMS)Inmate Release Prepaid Card System Funds Deposit System - electronic and kiosk systemOptional Incentive ContentContractor is responsible for updating server, operating system, application software, database and any peripheral devices with the current version of the technology.At no additional cost to the County, Contractor will provide a Spillman Integration or equivalent to their commissary system. Spillman Integration means the capabilities of Spillman Flex, a public safety software solution, to seamlessly connect and share data across various systems, enhancing operational efficiency for law enforcement and emergency response agenciesCyber SecurityContractor is responsible for updating server, operating system, application software, database and any peripheral devices with the current version of the technology.Contractor will log into the County network using two-factor authentication to maintain system integrity.Contractor is liable for any damages caused to the County network resulting in a computer virus or security breach on the county network that was created by the Contractor's access to the network.County will perform virus scanning and protection on the Contractor's servers.Contractor is also responsible to ensuring the system is free of malware and viruses.Contractor will perform industry standard backups of the databases used by the system.The County can request a complete database backup for archival purposes at the county twice per year at no cost to the County. Contractor will provide the database schema so the data can be viewed for audit purposes.Contractor will provide 24-hour notice on all system maintenance outages.These outages should be proactively scheduled in advance with the County.Contractor will provide a technical contact for the County to use for any support, outage, performance or system concerns.Support will be provided 24/7

This section provides a curated list of help articles addressing common questions and challenges proposers may encounter during the Request for Proposal process. The resources below are intended to offer clear guidance, practical solutions, and relevant information to support a smooth and successful submission. Proposers are encouraged to review these materials as needed to better understand requirements, resolve issues, and navigate the process with confidence.Vendor RegistrationFollowing a ProjectGetting Started with SubscriptionsHow to Submit a Question in OpenGovHow to Submit a Proposal Response in OpenGovHow to Edit or Withdraw a Proposal after Submission in OpenGov

Only electronic submittal via the County's eProcurement Portal shall be accepted for this procurement. No hard copies, emails, or fax submittals shall be accepted. The accepted forms of submitted materials are .pdf, png., jpeg., and MS Office formats such as docx. and xlsx.

Contractor must:Agree to pay all Federal, State and local taxes which may be assessed against Contractor's equipment or merchandise while in or upon the premises, as well as all federal, state, and local taxes assessed in connection with the operation of its services upon the premises.All costs in connection with such taxes (excluding client's real estate and personal property taxes), licenses, permits, and food handler's cards, shall be the cost of business and will be charged to the operation of the business.In the event of any changes in the tax laws that would make sales tax not applicable, the Contractor agrees to adjust prices accordingly. Agree to comply with all federal, state and local regulations governing the preparation, handling, and serving of foods.Contractor will procure and keep in effect all necessary licenses, permits, and food handlers’ cards required by law, and to post such permits in a prominent place as required by law.

Applicants must acknowledge and confirm each addendum and notice issued under this solicitation. The system will not allow final submission unless all required confirmations are checked.

Contractor must:Provide religious products that include religious food/snack products (Halal, Kosher, and Vegan). Items must be specifically labeled on the menu and the product.Provide prayer rugs, miswaks, scented oils, Kufi's and other religious items. Provide options for placing money on an inmate account (i.e. lobby kiosks, internet, and phone).Be able to invoice phone vendor via the commissary system.Provide a two-week notification of any price changes to commissary items.Cover the cost of printing and mailing the menus.Inmate commissary history shall be continuously tracked for audit purposes and a quick and easy reference.All indigent purchases shall be continuously tracked in a data base and documentation shall meet the ACLU requirements: Civil Rights Division | Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons

Proposers should allow sufficient time to ensure timely receipt of the proposal by the County’s e-procurement System, OpenGov. Late responses will not be accepted and will be automatically disqualified. The County assumes no responsibility for delays caused by Proposer's technical related system errors.

Contractor shall hire all employees necessary for the performance of the resulting agreement.Contractor agrees to comply with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to hiring, wages and hours of employment.All persons employed by the Contractor will be the employees of the Contractor, and not of the County.Contractor agrees that Contractor employees and agents shall comply with and observe all applicable rules and regulations concerning conduct on the premises which the County imposes upon Contractor's employees and agents.County shall not impose any regulation on Contractor's employees not imposed on County employees.

Contractor will receive inmate roster updates from the County every 5 (five) minutes.The Contractor is responsible for using the County data and any other data to manage restrictions on commissary distribution.At the County's request, and at no additional cost to the County, the Contractor will provide reports to comply with any public records request.These reports will be created and delivered within three (3) days of a request or a written justification describing why the report will take longer to produce will be provided with a completion date.

All proposals and any accompanying documentation become the property of the County and will not be returned.