Blank Rome Represents Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors as Procurement Counsel for Award of Professional Services Agreement to Operate Correctional Facility
A Blank Rome team represented the Delaware County Board of Prison Inspectors (the “Prison Board”) as procurement counsel in connection with a public procurement for award of a contract to manage and operate the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County, PA.
On December 12, 2018, the Prison Board unanimously approved a five-year, $264 million contract with a GEO Group Inc. subsidiary to run the 1,883-inmate George W. Hill Correctional Facility. The contract was approved for a five-year initial term, but includes two 2-year options that could extend it to a nine-year contract at a cost of $495.9 million. The George W. Hill Correctional Facility is the only prison in Pennsylvania that is operated through a public/private partnership. For more information on this deal, please read Delco Prison Board OKs new 9-year, $495M prison deal.
To facilitate this deal, the Blank Rome team was responsible for the creation of a new solicitation (Request for Proposals) to ensure full and open competition and transparency, as well as drafting of a new professional services agreement. The solicitation was released in June 2018 and three competitive proposals were received. The Blank Rome team oversaw the evaluation team and selection for award process, which resulted in substantial cost savings to the Board and access to a $14.8 million loan to the county at no interest, should the county decide to use it for capital improvements at the facility.