Report 2013-302/2013-303 Recommendations

To improve the usefulness of the Judicial Council's semiannual reports until a statutory requirement is enacted, the AOC should work with the Judicial Council to pursue a cost-effective method to provide the semiannual reports in an electronic format that can be read by common database and spreadsheet software products that allow users to readily sort and filter the data, beginning with the semiannual report covering the July 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013, reporting period.

To improve the usefulness of the Judicial Council's semiannual reports until a statutory requirement is enacted, the AOC should work with the Judicial Council to pursue a cost-effective method to do the following:

- Include new contracts and the complete history of contracts amended during the reporting period in the semiannual reports, including the date of the original contract; the original contract amount and duration; all subsequent contract amendments; and the date, amount, and duration of each such amendment. The AOC should present this information beginning with the semiannual report covering the July 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014, reporting period.

To improve the usefulness of the Judicial Council's semiannual reports until a statutory requirement is enacted, the AOC should work with the Judicial Council to pursue a cost-effective method to do the following:

- Begin tracking additional information in its data systems for inclusion in the semiannual reports. This information should include whether a contract was competitively bid, the justification if it was not competitively bid, and whether the contract was with a Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise. For information technology contracts, the AOC should identify whether the contract was with a small business. The AOC should present this information beginning with the semiannual report covering the July 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014, reporting period.

The AOC should implement all of the best practices related to general and business process application controls as outlined in the U.S. Government Accountability Office's Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual no later than December 31, 2014, thereby strengthening and continuously monitoring the effectiveness of the controls over its information systems. In addition, the AOC should immediately begin implementing improvements to its controls over access to its information systems and place these improvements into effect by February 2014. Finally, the AOC should provide guidance and routinely follow up with the superior courts—requiring updates every six months until all identified issues are corrected—to ensure that they make the necessary improvements to their general and business process application controls.

The AOC, the Supreme Court, and the first, second, and fourth districts should implement procedures to ensure that they follow a competitive process for their procurements when required.

The AOC should implement procedures to ensure that agreements it considers LPAs include in their terms and conditions language that expressly allows other judicial entities to use them.

The AOC should provide additional training to its staff and the judicial entities on how to conduct procurements in compliance with the judicial contracting manual.

The AOC should revise the judicial contracting manual to require judicial entities to maintain documentation on their determinations of fair and reasonable pricing for purchases under $5,000.

The AOC should revise the judicial contracting manual to require that judicial entities maintain documentation for their evaluation and selection process used for competitive procurements. The AOC should also strengthen its procedures to ensure that bid evaluations are conducted properly and calculated correctly.

The AOC, HCRC, Supreme Court, and fourth and fifth districts should implement procedures to ensure that required noncompetitive procurement processes, such as preparing justifications and obtaining approval for sole-source procurements, are properly documented. Additionally, the AOC should ensure that it prepares the appropriate documentation when it amends a contract that it has competitively solicited and the amendment includes a change that was not evaluated in the original competitive process.

The AOC should implement procedures to ensure that its internal controls over payments are followed and that procurements are approved before ordering and receiving goods and services.

The AOC should implement its plan to review sections of the California Public Contract Code, SAM, and SCM applicable to the judicial branch annually, and more often if there are significant changes, and update the judicial contracting manual as needed. Unless the judicial contracting manual removes the requirement, the AOC should also update its local manual to address construction activities for facilities other than trial courts.

The first, fifth, and sixth districts should develop procedures to ensure that they consistently maintain documentation of their determinations that the pricing obtained is fair and reasonable for procurements under $5,000.

The first and fifth districts should implement procedures to ensure that they consistently document their evaluation and selection process for procurements.

The AOC, HCRC, Supreme Court, and fourth and fifth districts should implement procedures to ensure that required noncompetitive procurement processes, such as preparing justifications and obtaining approval for sole-source procurements, are properly documented.

The AOC, the Supreme Court, and the first, second, and fourth districts should implement procedures to ensure that they follow a competitive process for their procurements when required.

The first, fifth, and sixth districts should develop procedures to ensure that they consistently maintain documentation of their determinations that the pricing obtained is fair and reasonable for procurements under $5,000.

The first and fifth districts should implement procedures to ensure that they consistently document their evaluation and selection process for procurements.

The AOC, the Supreme Court, and the first, second, and fourth districts should implement procedures to ensure that they follow a competitive process for their procurements when required.

The AOC, HCRC, Supreme Court, and fourth and fifth districts should implement procedures to ensure that required noncompetitive procurement processes, such as preparing justifications and obtaining approval for sole-source procurements, are properly documented.

The AOC, the Supreme Court, and the first, second, and fourth districts should implement procedures to ensure that they follow a competitive process for their procurements when required.

The first, fifth, and sixth districts should develop procedures to ensure that they consistently maintain documentation of their determinations that the pricing obtained is fair and reasonable for procurements under $5,000.

The AOC, HCRC, Supreme Court, and fourth and fifth districts should implement procedures to ensure that required noncompetitive procurement processes, such as preparing justifications and obtaining approval for sole-source procurements, are properly documented.

To improve the usefulness of the Judicial Council's semiannual reports, the Legislature should amend the Judicial Branch Contract Law to require the Judicial Council to:

- Make the semiannual reports available in an electronic format that can be read by common database and spreadsheet software products that allow users to readily sort and filter the data.

- Include new contracts and the complete history of contracts amended during the reporting period in its semiannual reports, including the date of the original contract; the original contract amount and duration; all subsequent contract amendments; and the date, amount, and duration of each such amendment.

- Include information on whether a contract was competitively bid, the justification if it was not competitively bid, and whether the contract was with a Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise. For information technology contracts, the Judicial Council should identify whether the contract was with a small business.

The AOC, the Supreme Court, and the first, second, and fourth districts should implement procedures to ensure that they follow a competitive process for their procurements when required.

The AOC, HCRC, Supreme Court, and fourth and fifth districts should implement procedures to ensure that required noncompetitive procurement processes, such as preparing justifications and obtaining approval for sole-source procurements, are properly documented.