Report 2017-302 Recommendation 5 Responses
Report 2017-302: Judicial Council of California: It Needs to Follow Competitive Bidding Processes More Consistently and Establish Clear Guidance for Invoice Processing (Release Date: December 2017)
Recommendation #5 To: Judicial Council of California
To prevent misinterpretation of policies governing its procurement practices, the Judicial Council should reissue its local manual by June 2018, incorporating all updates made since the 2011 version of the manual.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From August 2019
The Judicial Council reissued its local manual effective April 2019.
- Completion Date: August 2019
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
The Judicial Council reissued its local manual effective April 2019.
1-Year Agency Response
Judicial Council staff currently expect to publish an updated local procurement manual sometime in February 2019. Nevertheless, the Judicial Council's procurement staff have taken steps to provide clearer guidelines to employees involved in the procurement process. For example, on November 1, 2018, the Judicial Council's procurement staff revised its Contract Administration Procedure (CAP) document, which serves as a reference tool to assist Judicial Council staff with the execution of procurement actions. The CAP provides an overview of the various procurement roles, expected workflow, and the competitive solicitation process.
- Estimated Completion Date: February 2019
- Response Date: December 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending
6-Month Agency Response
The Judicial Council's local procurement manual (local manual) primarily defines the level of management at which a procurement, based on its dollar value, must be approved. The Judicial Council's staff agree that the local manual needs to be consolidated into a unified document in order to avoid confusion. However, with the Judicial Council and the Courts of Appeal transitioning to Fi$Cal - which includes a procurement module - staff have been focused on system configuration and staff training. Once Fi$Cal has been successfully implemented, the Judicial Council's procurement process and approval controls will be similar to those of other state agencies that also use Fi$Cal.
- Estimated Completion Date: December 2018
- Response Date: June 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending
60-Day Agency Response
Staff from the Judicial Council's Branch Accounting and Procurement (BAP) unit are in the process of consolidating and updating its local contracting manual per the audit's recommendation.
- Estimated Completion Date: June 2018
- Response Date: February 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
All Recommendations in 2017-302
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.