Division 5-36. Purchasing - Cook County  



 
    (55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-36 heading)
Division 5-36. Purchasing - Cook County

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36001) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36001)
    Sec. 5-36001. Contracts for supplies, material and work. All contracts for supplies, material and work for the County of Cook shall be let as herein provided. All contracts for supplies, material or work for Cook County shall be approved by the board of commissioners and signed by the president of the board, the county purchasing agent and the comptroller. Supplies shall be issued only on the requisition of the responsible officers of the county institutions now or hereafter established by law, approved by the county purchasing agent.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36002) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36002)
    Sec. 5-36002. County purchasing agent. There shall be a county purchasing agent for the County of Cook who shall be appointed by the president by and with the consent of the Board of Commissioners. He shall hold office for one year and until his successor is appointed. No person shall be appointed county purchasing agent unless he has had at least three years experience in an executive capacity in the purchasing office of a private or public corporation whose purchases are reasonably comparable in size to those of the County of Cook. His salary shall be fixed by the Board of Commissioners. He shall give a bond for the due performance of his duties in an amount to be prescribed by the Board of Commissioners. The county purchasing agent shall have power to appoint, in accordance with civil service regulations, the necessary employees of his office and to prescribe their duties. The number and salaries of such employees shall be fixed by the Board of Commissioners.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36003) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36003)
    Sec. 5-36003. Powers and duties of purchasing agent. The county purchasing agent shall, subject to the control and supervision of the board of commissioners, (a) purchase or contract for all supplies, materials and equipment, and contractual services required by any Office, department, institution or agency of the county government subject to the provisions, restrictions and limitations of this Division; (b) enforce standard specifications established in accordance with this Division which shall apply to all supplies, materials and equipment purchased for the use of any Office, department, institution or agency of the county government; (c) have charge of all central storerooms now operated by or hereafter established by any Office, department, institution or agency of the county government; (d) transfer to or between the various Offices, departments, institutions or agencies of the county government and trade in and sell supplies, materials and equipment which are surplus, obsolete or unusable; (e) have charge of such other purchasing activities as the Board of Commissioners may assign to him from time to time; (f) distribute or cause to be distributed to the various Offices, departments, institutions or agencies of the county government all supplies, materials and equipment purchased by him. Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, no supplies, materials or equipment or contractual services shall be purchased or contracted for by any Office, department, institution or agency of the county, or by any officer or employee thereof, but all such supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services shall be purchased or contracted for by such county purchasing agent in accordance with this Division.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36004) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36004)
    Sec. 5-36004. Definitions. The term "supplies, materials and equipment" as used in this Division shall include any and all articles or things which shall be furnished to or used by any Office, department, institution or agency of the county government, including supplies necessary for dieting prisoners confined in the jail of said county. "Contractual services" shall include all purchases, leases, and contracts for impersonal services, necessary for the operation of any Office, department, institution or agency of the county government which are not encompassed in the above definition of "supplies, material and equipment".
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36005) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36005)
    Sec. 5-36005. Rules and regulations. The county purchasing agent, subject to the approval of the Board of Commissioners, shall adopt, promulgate, and from time to time amend the rules and regulations for the proper conduct of his office.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36006) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36006)
    Sec. 5-36006. Competitive bids; government surplus materials. The purchases of and contracts for supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services and all sales of personal property which has become obsolete or unusable shall be based on competitive bids. If the amount involved is estimated to exceed $10,000, sealed bids shall be solicited by public notice inserted at least once in a newspaper of countywide circulation and at least five calendar days before the final date of submitting bids. Such notices shall include a general description of the commodities or contractual services to be purchased or personal property to be sold and shall state where all blanks and specifications may be obtained and the time and place for the opening of bids. The county purchasing agent may also solicit sealed bids by sending requests by mail to prospective suppliers and by posting notices on a public bulletin board in his office. If supplies, materials, equipment, and contractual services can be obtained through, or are manufactured or produced by, persons confined in institutions and facilities of the Illinois Department of Corrections, the county purchasing agent is expressly required to solicit sealed bids from the Illinois Department of Corrections for such supplies, materials, equipment, and contractual services by sending requests for bids by mail to the Illinois Department of Corrections. All purchases or sales of $10,000 or less may be made in the open market without publication in a newspaper as above provided, but whenever practical shall be based on at least three competitive bids. All sales of obsolete or unusable material shall be made to the highest responsible bidder. Wherever the Board of Standardization hereinafter provided for shall have prescribed standard specifications, bids on purchases of supplies, materials and equipment shall be based on such standard specifications. All purchases, orders or contracts shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, taking into consideration the qualities of the articles supplied, their conformity with the specifications, their suitability to the requirements of the county and the delivery terms. All bids may be rejected and new bids solicited if the public interest may be served thereby. In all cases where the amount of the expenditure, or sales price of obsolete and unusable equipment, exceeds $10,000, the Board of Commissioners shall not approve any purchase or order or contract or sale except on the recommendation of the county purchasing agent unless the recommendation of the county purchasing agent and the reasons for not accepting his recommendation are spread at large on the published records of the Board of Commissioners. Each bid, with the name of the bidder, shall be entered on a record, which record with the successful bid indicated thereon shall, after the award of the purchase or order or contract, be open to public inspection. A copy of all contracts shall be filed with the County Comptroller and with the county purchasing agent.
    Contracts which by their nature are not adapted to award by competitive bidding, such as contracts for the services of individuals possessing a high degree of professional skill where the ability or fitness of the individual plays an important part, contracts for printing of Finance Committee pamphlets, Comptroller's estimates, and departmental reports, contracts for the printing or engraving of bonds, tax warrants and other evidences of indebtedness, contracts for utility services such as water, light, heat, telephone or telegraph, and contracts for the purchase of magazines, books, periodicals and similar articles of an educational or instructional nature, and the binding of such magazines, books, periodicals, pamphlets, reports and similar articles shall not be subject to the competitive bidding requirements of this Section. The purchasing agent is expressly authorized to procure from any federal, state or local governmental unit or agency thereof such surplus materials, supplies, commodities or equipment as may be made available through the operation of any legislation heretofore or hereafter enacted without conforming to the competitive bidding requirements of this Section. Regular employment contracts in the county service, whether with respect to the classified service or otherwise, shall not be subject to the provisions of this Section nor shall this Section be applicable to the granting or issuance pursuant to powers conferred by laws, ordinances or resolutions, of franchises, licenses, permits or other authorizations by the county board, or by departments, offices, institutions, boards, commissions, agencies or other instrumentalities of the county, nor to contracts or transactions, other than the sale or lease of personal property, pursuant to which the county is the recipient of money.
    The provisions of this Section are subject to any contrary provision contained in "An Act concerning the use of Illinois mined coal in certain plants and institutions", filed July 13, 1937, as heretofore or hereafter amended.
(Source: P.A. 89-89, eff. 6-30-95.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36007) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36007)
    Sec. 5-36007. Purchases in open market. The county purchasing agent under such terms and conditions as the Board of Commissioners may prescribe, may authorize in writing any Office, department, institution or agency of the county government to purchase in the open market without filing a requisition or estimate, any supplies, material or equipment for immediate delivery to meet actual emergencies. A full written account of the circumstances necessitating any such emergency purchase, together with a requisition upon which the emergency purchase was secured shall be submitted at once to the county purchasing agent by the head of the Office, department, institution or agency of the county government concerned. The records of such transactions shall be open to public inspection.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36008) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36008)
    Sec. 5-36008. Contracts in violation of regulations. If any Office, department, institution or agency of the county government or officer or employee thereof shall purchase or contract for any supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services contrary to the provisions of this Division, or contrary to the rules and regulations made thereunder, such order or contract shall be void and of no effect, and if county funds shall have been paid out upon such order or contract, the amount thereof may be recovered in the name of the county in an appropriate action instituted therefor.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36009) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36009)
    Sec. 5-36009. Interests of officers and employees. Neither the county purchasing agent nor any member of the Board of Standardization created by this Division shall be financially interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract for or purchase of any supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services furnished to or used by any office, department, institution or agency of the county government. The county purchasing agent or any member of his staff, or any member of the Board of Standardization who shall accept or receive directly or indirectly from any person, firm or corporation to which any contract or purchase order may be awarded, any rebate, gift, money, or anything of value whatsoever, be guilty of a business offense and shall be fined not to exceed $10,000 and shall forfeit his right to his office, trust or employment and shall be removed therefrom.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36010) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36010)
    Sec. 5-36010. Board of Standardization. There shall be a Board of Standardization for the County of Cook composed of the County purchasing agent who shall be chairman, the Superintendent of the County Hospital, or some person designated by him, the superintendent of the Oak Forest Hospital, or some person designated by him, the Superintendent of Highways, or some person designated by him, the Sheriff, or some person designated by him, and the President of the County Board, or some person designated by him. The members of the Board of Standardization shall receive no compensation for their services as such members. It shall be the duty of the Board of Standardization to classify the requirements of the county government as to supplies, materials and equipment; to adopt as standards the smallest number of the various qualities, sizes and varieties of such supplies, materials and equipment consistent with the efficient operation of the county government, and to prepare, adopt and promulgate written specifications describing such standards. In the preparation and revision of any such standard specifications, the Board of Standardization shall seek the advice, assistance and cooperation of the county Offices, departments, institutions and agencies concerned to ascertain their requirements. All specifications must be definite and certain, and, in so far as possible, permit of competitive bids. After its adoption, each standard specification shall, until revised or rescinded, apply alike in terms and effect to every future purchase and contract for the purchase of every commodity.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

    (55 ILCS 5/5-36011) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-36011)
    Sec. 5-36011. Annual report by county purchasing agent. The county purchasing agent shall, at such time as prescribed by the Board of Commissioners, submit to the Board an annual report of the activities of his office.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)