Judge Orders Dallas County to Halt Work on Contract Granted to GTSI

DALLAS, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A state district court judge has granted a temporary injunction in favor of a Dallas-based company after finding that Dallas County failed to follow a state-mandated competitive bidding process in awarding a seven-year, $17.3 million contract to Virginia-based GTSI Corp. last year.  The lawsuit, originally filed by Dallas' Business Resources Corporation and its affiliated companies in December 2009, alleges GTSI and Dallas County tried to justify bypassing state law by "piggy-backing" a book preservation contract on an unrelated national purchasing agreement that exclusively offered information technology services.

Monday's ruling from Judge Bruce Priddy of Dallas County's 116th Civil District Court effectively stops GTSI and its subcontractors, AmCad and Louisiana Binding Services, from performing any further work under the contract.  The injunction remains in place pending any appeals by the county or GTSI based on the injunction or jurisdictional issues, or a subsequent trial.  The judge found no evidence that any governmental agency or purchasing organization competitively bid the specific services covered in Dallas County's contract with GTSI.

"The (competitive bid) process was not followed," said Judge Priddy in issuing his order, adding that the pricing agreed to in the contract was not a consideration, but that the relevant issue was the failure of the county and GTSI to follow Texas Local Government Code statutes.  "GTSI was aggressively trying to use an exception in violation of Texas law."

The contract calls for the restoration and preservation of some of the county's oldest paper records, such as books of property titles, deeds and plats.  By state law, county clerks are required to maintain certain historical paper records, which have a lifespan far longer than their electronic counterparts.  In sworn testimony during the two-day hearing, Dallas County Clerk John Warren stated he relied on the county purchasing department and district attorney's office to assure that all laws and proper procedures were followed in negotiating contracts.

Public officials and employees who intentionally violate the statute mandating competitive bids face a range of harsh penalties, including the possibility of criminal charges and removal from office or employment.

"It's apparent that Dallas County officials either willfully disregarded the law or were misled by GTSI about how the contract was awarded," says attorney Michael Hurst of the Dallas law firm Gruber Hurst Johansen & Hail LLP and counsel for Business Resources.  "By successfully bringing this litigation we are confident that this service can be completed at a higher quality and lower cost, which is exactly why the law requires competitive bidding.  Based on the judge's ruling we hope the county will cancel the existing contract and follow Texas law."

Business Resources offers similar book preservation services, but claims that Dallas County never publicly opened the contract for bids as required by state statute.  In filing the original litigation, the company contended that it could complete the project and save the county $4.5 million, when compared to the contract awarded to GTSI.

For more information, contact Barry Pound at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].  

SOURCE Business Resources Corporation