Procurement Ethics Policy

Responsibility to the County – Employees shall avoid activities that compromise or give the perception of compromising the best interests of Kaufman County. Employees shall not knowingly use confidential proprietary information for actual or anticipated personal gain.

Conflict of Interest - Employees shall avoid any activity that would create a conflict between their personal interests and the interest of Kaufman County. Conflicts exist in any relationship where the County’s best interest may be different from the employee’s best interests or the best interest of someone associated with the employee. Conflicts of interest include an employee participating in any way in any procurement in which:

(1) The employee or any member of the employee’s family has a financial interest in the results of the County procurement process;

(2) A business or organization in which the employee, or any member of the employee’s family, has a financial interest in the results of the County procurement process; or

(3) Any other person, business, or organization with whom the employee or a member of the employee’s family is negotiating for or has an arrangement concerning prospective employment. 

If a conflict of interest exists, the employee shall notify the Purchasing Agent in writing and remove himself or herself from the County procurement process.

Perception – Employees shall avoid the appearance of unethical or compromising practices in relationships, actions, and communications associated with County procurement.

Gratuities – Employees shall not solicit or accept money, loans, gifts, favors, or anything of value, from present or potential contractors that might influence or appear to influence a purchasing decision. Generally, goods or services with a value of $100 or less in the aggregate from a Vendor during a year do not violate this prohibition unless they influence or appear to influence a specific transaction complies with this policy, the person should disclose the transaction to the Purchasing Agent for a determination of compliance.

Confidential Information - Employees shall keep the proprietary information of vendors confidential. Employees shall keep vendor proposal information obtained from a solicitation confidential until after contract award.

Confidentiality Memorandum - The Purchasing Department uses a confidentiality memorandum to ensure compliance with the ethics policy for keeping proprietary information confidential. Before the evaluation of confidential proposals, the Purchasing Department sends this memorandum to evaluation committee members for signature and certification.

The memorandum explains the following requirements to which the evaluation committee member is expected to adhere during the competitive process and until the Commissioners Court approves an award:

a. All information in the vendor’s response is to be kept confidential.

b. No discussion of the proposal is to occur with anyone outside of the proposal evaluation committee members.

c. Proposal responses are not to be reproduced and will be returned to the designated Purchasing Department staff after evaluation is completed.

d. The Purchasing Department is the sole point of communication for any questions from vendors or committee members that arise during the evaluation. All questions and requests for information shall be referred to the Purchasing Department. There must not be any discussions between evaluation committee members and vendors during the evaluation and award process.

e. Evaluation committee members must be familiar with and read the Kaufman County Purchasing Code of Ethics and agree to comply with its requirements, including reporting any potential conflict of interest, undue influence from vendors, Commissioners Court members, or other County staff, or attempted communications from vendors during the evaluation process.

(3) Compliance with the requirements outlined in the confidentiality memorandum is crucial. If proprietary information of any vendor is compromised during the procurement process, all proposals may be rejected.