Did Louisiana's Public Bid Law require a port security council to bid legal and accounting services?

Plain-English summary

In 2013, the Louisiana Attorney General said the Lower Mississippi River Port Wide Strategic Security Council could contract for legal, accounting, management, and other professional services without competitive bidding under Louisiana's Public Bid Law. The opinion said that law's bid rules covered public works projects and purchases of materials or supplies, while Louisiana courts had held that service contracts were outside those requirements.

The council reported receiving federal grant funds and said federal officials thought some services should be competitively procured. The AG therefore cautioned that federal rules could impose separate conditions on reimbursement, including competitive bidding or negotiation. Its no-bid conclusion addressed Louisiana law.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did the council have to bid a legal-services contract under state law?

No. The AG said Louisiana's Public Bid Law did not apply to services, including legal, accounting, and management contracts.

Did the same opinion exempt construction and supply purchases?

No. The opinion separately described bid and quotation rules for public works and materials or supplies. Its conclusion about service contracts did not decide those categories.

Could federal grant rules still require a competitive process?

The AG cautioned that a federal entity reimbursing the council might impose separate requirements that services be necessary, reasonably priced, and competitively bid or negotiated. It did not decide whether a specific grant required bidding.

Background and statutory framework

The council, composed of port representatives, asked whether contracted professional services had to follow state competitive-bid procedures. The AG compared Louisiana's Public Bid Law provisions for public works and supplies with state and federal decisions concerning service contracts, then limited its answer to the state-law procurement question.

Citations

• La. Rev. Stat. 38:2211 and 38:2212 (public works definitions and bidding rule cited in the opinion).
• La. R.S. 38:2212.1(A)(1)(a) (materials and supplies provision cited in the opinion).
• Regency Construction, Inc. v. Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government, 2003-313 (La. App. 3 Cir. 6/4/03), 847 SO.2d 796 (service contracts discussed in the opinion).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0167

Original opinion text

~tale of 1fi.ouisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
JAMES D: "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

NOV 2 6 2013
Opinion 13-0167

Ms. Melissa Folse
90-A-1 PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS

General Counsel
La. Rev. Stat. 38:2211 et seq.
P.O. Box 1760
The Louisiana Public Bid Law is not applicable to the Lower
Prairieville, LA 70769
Mississippi River Port Wide Strategic Security Council in
procuring a contract for legal, accounting, management. or other professional services.

Dear Ms. Folse:

Your request for an Attorney General's Opinion has been assigned to me for research and reply. On behalf of the Lower Mississippi River Port Wide Strategic Security Council ("Council"), you have asked for our opinion as to whether contracted services, such as legal services, accounting services, management services, and other professional services, are required to be competitively bid under Louisiana's Public Bid Law.

According to your request, the Council is composed of one representative 'from each of the following ports: Port of South Louisiana, Port of New Orleans, Port of Greater Baton Rouge, St. Bernard Port, Harbor, and Terminal District, and the , Port of Plaquemines. Your request also states that the Council is provided funding through a federal grant program administered by the United States Department of Homeland Security. You state that representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are under the assumption that certain services are to be procured through a competitive bid process. As such, you ask for our opinion as to whether services are required to be competitively bid under Louisiana's Public Bid Law.

Under Louisiana's Public Bid Law, contracts for public works projects exceeding $150,000 must be advertised and let to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. La. Rev. Stat. 38:2212. A pUblic works project means the erection, construction, alteration, improvement, or repair of any public facility or immovable property owned, used, or leased by a public entity. La. Rev. Stat. 38:2211.
Public works projects that are estimated to cost less than $150,000 are not subject to the advertising and bidding requirements of the Public Bid Law and may be undertaken by the public entity with its own employees or may be negotiated with one or more contractors.

Page 2

Opinion 13-0167
Ms. Melissa Folse
Page -2­

Also under Louisiana's Public Bid Law, contracts for the purchase of materials and supplies exceeding $30,000 must be advertised and let by contract to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. La. R.S. 38:2212.1(A)(1)(a). This is commonly referred to as the Invitation to Bid ("ITB") method. Contracts for the purchase of materials and supplies costing $10,000 or more, but less than
$30,000, must be made by obtaining no fewer than three telephone or facsimile quotations. La. R.S. 38:2212.1 (A)(1 )(b). For purchases of less than $10,000, there is no prescribed procurement method.

However, Louisiana courts have held that contracts for services, professional or otherwise, are not subject to the requirements of the Louisiana Public Bid Law. See generally, Regency Construction, Inc. v. Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government, 2003-313 (La. App. 3 Cir. 6/4/03), 847 SO.2d 796; United Disaster Response, LLC v. Omni Pinnacle, LLC, 2009 WL 901763 (E.D. La. 2009). Numerous Attorney General Opinions have expressed the same conclusion in response to inquiries on a wide variety of service contracts. See generally Attorney General Opinion No. 00-246, 07-0278, 09-0252. However, the Council is cautioned to consider applicable federal law in procuring service contracts when anticipating a claim for reimbursement from a federal entity. Such federal entities may require that the services procured were necessary and reasonable in cost and competitively bid and negotiated.

Thus, under applicable Louisiana law, it is the opinion of this office that the Council and its members are free to contract for services without engaging in any
. sort of competitive bid process. This authority would extend to contracting for legal services, accounting services, management services, and other professional services.

We trust this adequately responds to your request. If you should have any questions about the response contained herein, please feel free to contact our
office.
.
Yours very truly,

BY:
J. VALLAN t Attorney General

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