Title
Sheriff's Office and Probation Department recommending the Board:
1) Make findings pursuant to Article II, Section 210b(6) of the El Dorado County Charter, and in accordance with County Ordinance 3.13.030 Sections B and C that it is appropriate to contract for these services because of the specialty skills and qualifications not expressly identified in County classifications involved in the performance of the work, as well as the limited time-frames, temporary or occasional nature, or schedule for the project scope of work to be performed is not sufficient to warrant the addition of permanent staff;
2) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign retroactive Agreement 7606 with KP Research Services Inc., in the amount of $100,000 for a term from August 7, 2022 through August 6, 2025; and
3) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to increase the Compensation on an “as-needed” basis during the awarded period as long as funding is available within the requesting department's budget and contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management.
FUNDING: General Fund.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The Sheriff’s Office and the Probation Department have had an agreement with KP Research Services Inc., for the past five years as a back-up to another contractor performing similar services. KP Research Services Inc. (KP Research) performs “as-needed” background investigations for Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) sworn and non-sworn staff positions. Conducting backgrounds for potential law enforcement personnel is a very labor-intensive process which involves extensive reviews on the backgrounds of potential employees to ensure El Dorado County is hiring reliable and trustworthy individuals of integrity and skill. Once KP Research is done, the background report comes back to the Sheriff's Office or Probation Department where it is assigned to investigators for further follow up and investigation. Most of the time, contacts with relatives, friends, prior employers, home visits, and Computer Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA) exams are necessary.
The Sheriff's Office also has a contract with Frasier Group Investigations (FGI) to provide background investigations at a lower contracted rate than KP Research which lead to the Sheriff’s Office to plan on using FGI rather than KP Research. The countywide contract expired with KP Research in August 2022 and was not renewed prior to expiration. However, after several POST audits, it was determined that the quality of background investigations from KP Research met POST's expectations and standard for sworn personnel. With this new information, the Sheriff’s Office began utilizing KP Research again in January 2023 for sworn background investigations while still utilizing FGI for non-sworn background investigations. After conversations with Procurements & Contracts, it was determined a contract was necessary for the scope of services provided and it was decided the new agreement with KP Research should be retro-active to August 2022 to ensure continuity with the prior contract.
Both the Sheriff's Office and Probation Department contract with this and one other contractor for the same service because it is necessary to share the workload and reduce the backlog when expedited services are necessary.
ALTERNATIVES
Payment for services rendered after the expiration of the contract needs to be made, therefore, there is no alternative to signing a retroactive contract.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
03/09/2021 Legistar Item 21-0260
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
County Counsel and Risk Management have reviewed and approved this Agreement.
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
No change to Net County Cost. Funding for these services is budgeted in the Sheriff's and Probation’s operating budget each year and will continue to be budgeted in future years.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Please return one signed original of the Agreement to the Sheriff’s Office for distribution.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Public Safety
CONTACT
Undersheriff Bryan Golmitz
Chief Probation Officer Brian Richart