Courtroom Technology Request for Proposal (RFP)

August 3, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page Number SECTION I Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 A. Purpose of the RFPB. Evaluation Guidelines

SECTION II Instructions and Procedures .............................................................................................2

SECTION III Requirements......................................................................................................................3 A. Current EnvironmentB. RequirementsC. Considerations

SECTION IV Response Evaluation Criteria ...........................................................................................7

SECTION V Timeline/Submittal Documents ........................................................................................8 A. TimelineB. Submittal Documents

ATTACHMENT A Courtroom Technology Framework ....................................................................................10

ATTACHMENT B Courtroom Technology Considerations Matrix ...................................................................11

APPENDIX A Submittal Letter .................................................................................................................12

APPENDIX B Vendor Profile ....................................................................................................................13

APPENDIX C Requirements Response Form...........................................................................................14

*PDF SUBMITTAL FORMS FOR ARE LOCATED ON THE SUPREME COURTWEBSITEUNDER CONTRACTING OPPORUNITIES.https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/contracting-opportunities

SECTION I

A. Purpose of the RFPThis Request for Proposal (RFP) provides a prospective vendor with information to enableit to prepare and submit a proposal for consideration by the Nebraska Supreme Court,Administrative Office of the Courts & Probation (AOCP) for options to upgrade currentaudio visual technology for up to 100 trial court courtrooms. The selected courtrooms willbe in courthouses or judicial centers across the state of Nebraska. The ideal solution willuse as much of the existing technology infrastructure as possible, but will result in a morestandard approach to audio amplification, video presentation, and best quality capture ofthe court record.

B. Evaluation GuidelinesResponses will be evaluated based upon the criteria outlined in Section IV of this documentand scored accordingly. The vendor whose submission is determined to be the mostadvantageous to the AOCP, taking into consideration the evaluation factors set forth, shallbe contracted with for the provision and support of courtroom A/V systems. The AOCPreserves the right (prior to contract award) at its discretion, to contact individual references,and to consider other sources of information to determine evaluation scores.

The AOCP may reject any or all responses and/or cancel this RFP and re-solicit, if suchaction is in the AOCP’s best interest. The AOCP may waive informalities and minorirregularities on responses received.

If there is not a vendor who adequately meets the requirements, specifications, pricing, orany other standards as defined herein, the AOCP reserves the right to reject any or allresponses or parts thereof. This RFP does not commit the AOCP to award any contract orto pay any costs incurred in the preparation of responses. The AOCP reserves the right toaccept or reject, in whole or in part, all responses submitted and/or to cancel this RFP.

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SECTION II INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCEDURES

A. Necessary Documents

Vendors who wish to submit a response shall complete all necessary documentation asidentified in Section V of this RFP.

B. Specifications

The specifications included in this package provide adequate information as to whether ornot vendor can meet the needs of the AOCP. Deviations from the specifications may begrounds for disqualification.

C. Questions

The AOCP will be accepting questions regarding the RFP. Please see Section V for thetimeline and process for submission of questions.

D. Subcontractors

All direct service rights or obligations that will be assigned, delegated, or subcontracted inwhole or in part, must be identified in the RFP response.

E. Vendor Certification

By submission of a response, the respondent certifies that they have not paid nor agreed topay any person, other than a bona fide employee, a fee or a brokerage resulting from theaward of the contract.

F. Preparation of the Response

Respondent is expected to examine all documents, forms, specifications, standardprovisions, instructions, and examine its response for accuracy before submitting aresponse.

G. Response Requirements

Responses should be completed and submitted electronically pursuant to Section Vfor Appendix A through Appendix C. Pdf forms of Appendix A-B and Appendix C canbe found on the Nebraska Supreme Court website under Contracting Opportunitieshttps://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/contracting- opportunities. Except for letters ofrecommendation, responses are limited to the pdf forms and the space provided in thoseforms.

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SECTION III SPECIFICATIONS

A. Current Environment

What follows is a description of the locations, distribution and networking of courts as wellas the methods currently in use by the Nebraska Judicial Branch for recording of courtproceedings.

1. Judicial Branch Structure

a. Supreme Court: The Nebraska Supreme Court is the state’s court of last resort. Itsdecisions are binding on all trial courts, as well as the Court of Appeals. TheSupreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justicesrepresenting the six Judicial Districts of the State. The Chief Justice represents theState at large and serves as the executive head of the Nebraska Judicial Branch. TheSupreme Court regularly holds oral arguments in the courtroom located in Lincoln,Nebraska, and periodically travels to other locations within Nebraska such asschools or auditoriums to hear arguments.

b. Court of Appeals: The Nebraska Court of Appeals is the state’s intermediateappellate court. There are currently six judges, who sit in panels or divisions of threejudges each. The Court of Appeals is generally the first court to hear appeals ofjudgments and orders in criminal, juvenile, civil, domestic relations and probatematters. In addition, the Court of Appeals has appellate jurisdiction over decisionsoriginating in a number of state administrative boards and agencies. Itsdetermination of an appeal is final unless the Nebraska Supreme Court agrees tohear the matter. The Court of Appeals regularly holds oral arguments in thecourtroom located in Lincoln, Nebraska, and periodically travels to other locationswithin Nebraska such as schools or auditoriums to hear arguments.

c. District Courts: Twelve district court judicial districts serve the state’s ninety-threecounties and fifty-six district court judges serve within these judicial districts.Judges are required to preside at trials before the court and sit as the judge and factfinder in bench trials. Judges must hear and rule on pre-trial discovery motions, pre-trial and trial evidentiary matters, pretrial and trial matters relating to rules onpleadings, practice and procedure before the courts. In matters tried before a jury, ajudge must supervise and make rulings on jury selection issues, prepare and deliverproper jury instructions and decide matters that arise during jury deliberations.District Court judges hear cases in one or more of the 93 courthouses located acrossthe state. These judges are assigned a court reporter who is responsible for makingthe record in their judge’s court(s). District courts in some instances can be used forcounty court hearings.

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d. Separate Juvenile Courts: There are currently thirteen separate juvenile court judgessitting in Nebraska’s three largest counties: Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy. In theremaining counties, juvenile matters are heard in the county courts. SeparateJuvenile Courts have the same jurisdiction and employ the same procedures as thecounty courts acting as juvenile courts, and handle matters involving neglected,dependent, and delinquent children. The Separate Juvenile Courts also havejurisdiction in certain domestic relations cases where the care, support, or custodyof minor children is an issue. Separate juvenile court judges hear cases in their homecourthouse. These judges are assigned a court reporter who is responsible formaking the record in their judge’s court.

e. County Courts: There are 58 county judges in 12 county court districts. Jurisdictionof these courts is established by state law, which provides that county courts haveexclusive original jurisdiction in estate cases, probate matters, guardianship, andconservatorship cases, actions based on a violation of a city or village ordinance,juvenile court matters in counties without a separate juvenile court, adoptions, andeminent domain proceedings. County courts also have concurrent jurisdiction withdistrict courts in certain civil and criminal cases. County Court judges hear cases inone or more of the 93 courthouses located across the state. Court staff is assigned tooperate digital recording systems during county court hearings to capture the record.

f. Administrative Offices: The Nebraska Constitution gives general administrativeauthority over all courts to the Supreme Court and to the Chief Justice as executivehead of the judicial branch. The Administrative Offices of the Courts and Probationprovides most services to the court and probation systems including developingplans for improvement of the judicial system, serving as a central source ofinformation, and developing coordination within the branch and with other stateagencies. The Administrative Offices also help to support and oversee variousspecialized divisions within the branch. The Administrative Office is responsiblefor providing each county court with the means to create an audio record ofproceedings, as well as facilitating processes for any necessary transcription. TheAdministrative Office is also responsible for hiring of stenographic and digital courtreporters for each district court judge and providing them with the means to createeither an audio or stenographic record of proceedings.

2. Networking*

i. Administrative offices: The Administrative Offices of the Courts and Probationoperate on the Supreme Court network, which is maintained by the SupremeCourt’s Network Administrator. The Supreme Court’s domain resides within thestate of Nebraska’s network, on its own separate subnet.

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ii. Appellate courts: Offices for judges, staff and clerks of the Supreme Court andCourt of Appeals operate on the Supreme Court network. Permanent, remote officelocations are either directly connected to the state network or they utilize a VirtualPrivate Network (VPN) to access state resources. Temporary locations for oralarguments are not connected to the state network.

iii. Trial courts: Every courthouse in Nebraska is connected to the state network.However, each courthouse will also have a local county network. Courtrooms,when used for county court are networked to the state. Courtrooms designated fordistrict court may connect to local county and/or state networks.

*Bandwidth into the courthouse will vary from county to county based on availability fromlocal internet service providers. Depending on location, maximum upload/download speedwill be between 10MB and 1GB.

B. Requirements

1. Compatible with current and future environments

a. Respondent must assume that all current equipment and networking as describedabove will exist upon implementation and explain how its solution will becompatible. In addition, respondent must indicate the expected useful life span ofinstalled systems.

b. Respondent must describe how local installations will be individually managed,including on site assessment of each courtroom. Components of any existingsystem in the courtroom should be evaluated and retained where possible.

2. Audio System

a. Respondent must fully describe the components of the audio system to be installedin the courtroom. Solutions proposed by respondent must allow for a minimum ofa 4-channel recording capability and a maximum of 8 channel recording capability,specifying what digital recording software platforms are supported if applicable.The ability for all in the courtroom to clearly hear what is being said as well ascreating a high quality audio record is of primary importance for the judicial branch.

b. Respondent must identify if the system has a component for an ADA assistivelistening device(s) to be used by hearing impaired parties in the courtroom.

3. Video Component

a. Respondent must describe its capability to incorporate video for remote appearancein the courtroom specifying what video conferencing software platforms aresupported.

b. Respondent must identify the number and placement of camera locations in thecourtroom.

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c. Respondent must identify the number and placement of display locations in thecourtroom.

4. Evidence System: Respondent must describe its capability to facilitate audio visualdisplay of multimedia evidence in courtroom.

5. AV Rack and Control System: Respondent must describe rack location andrequirements.

6. Support and maintenance

a. Respondent must detail how it will provide technical support between the hours of7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Central Time Zone, Monday through Friday (excludingfederal and state holidays).

b. Respondent must describe its process for troubleshooting and resolving issues withthe courtroom technology installation, including response times.

c. Respondent must also describe how training on courtroom technology will beprovided to local court staff at the time of installation and on an on-going basis, asrequested by the court.

7. Implementation: Respondent must provide an available start date for work to begin oncourtroom updates if awarded a contract as well as an approximated timeline forcompletion of up to 100 courtrooms.

8. Pricing: Respondent much provide itemized costs per courtroom for:

a. Equipmentb. Implementation Servicesc. Installationd. Ongoing support and training

9. Experiences and References

a. The courtroom environment has specialized audio visual needs. Respondent shoulddescribe any experience they have with work in the courts, whether federal, stateor local.

b. Respondent shall provide three (3) letters of recommendation with its response tothis RFP pursuant to the requirements set forth in Section V.

C. Considerations

The National Center for State Courts has developed Courtroom Technology Frameworkand Matrix (see Attachment A and B). The technology solution for the AOCP shouldclosely align with this and the vendor response should incorporate this Framework andMatrix.

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SECTION IV RESPONSE EVALUATION CRITERIA

Responses will be evaluated through in-depth analysis and scoring based on the following criteria:

A. The vendor clearly follows the directions specified in this RFP. This includes submittal ofall required documents, naming conventions, meeting deadlines, providing detail onspecific requirements, etc. (can award up to 25 points).

B. The vendor clearly shows an understanding of the specific technology needs in a courtroomsetting and has described a solution that addresses (can award up to 50 points):• Making a high quality audio record• Display of electronic exhibits• Remote appearances

C. The vendor has prior experience doing work in a courtroom or court house setting (canaward up to 25 points).

D. The vendor has described how the proposed solution is compatible with current courtsoftware, Liberty Court Recording, Webex, Zoom (can award up to 25 points).

E. The vendor’s proposed solution allows for re-use/integration of good quality existingcourtroom hardware (can award up to 25 points).

F. The vendor’s proposed solutions integrates the courtroom technology framework andconsiderations matrix developed by the National Center for State Courts (can award up to25 points).

G. The vendor offers training for court users and ongoing support for technology systems (canaward up to 50 points).

H. The pricing offered by the vendor is in line with the market (can award up to 25 points).

I. The vendor has a clear implementation plan which includes an onsite presence for eachlocal court project and the proposed timeline for completion is reasonable (can award upto 50 points).

There are five scorers who can an award up to 300 points per respondent. The total maximum amount of points that can be awarded to each respondent is 1,500.

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SECTION V TIMELINE / SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS

A. Timeline1. Vendor Submittal Letter, Vendor Profile, Reference Letters, and Requirements

Response Form are due no later than 12:00 Noon Central Standard Time, Friday,September 3, 2021.

2. The AOCP will be accepting questions regarding the requirements of this RFP fromAugust 9, 2021 through August 13, 2021 (questions submitted before or after this datewill not be accepted or responded to). Questions should be submitted in writing tonsc.contractingopportunities@nebraska.gov and include in the subject CourtroomTechnology RFP – Company Name – Questions. Questions should be included in thebody of the email and should reference the Section/Subsection and page number thequestion relates to. The AOCP will respond to the questions submitted during theacceptance period by August 20, 2021. All answers to submitted questions will beposted to the Nebraska Supreme Court website under Contracting Opportunities(https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/contracting-opportunities).

3. Responses will be evaluated from September 3, 2021 through September 30, 2021.During this time, the AOCP may require vendor to accommodate further in-person ortelephone discussions with evaluation team. Vendor will be notified in writing or byphone if this is requested.

Discussions may be conducted with respondent(s) for the purpose of clarification toensure full understanding of responses to this RFP. Discussions shall not constitute anaward nor shall it confer any property rights on the successful respondent. Contractmay be made without discussions, therefore, responses shall be submitted complete andon most favorable terms.

4. Vendor(s) that have been selected to provide the technology will be notified on oraround October 1, 2021.

5. Vendors that were not selected through the scoring process will be notified by email onor around October 8, 2021.

B. Submittal Documents

Email submittal documents with the following attachments to:1. nsc.contractingopportunities@nebraska.gov

2. The Subject Line in the email for submissions must include the title of thecontracting opportunity (Courtroom Technology RFQ) and your organization’s name(e.g. Courtroom Technology RFQ-ABC Tech)

3. Submittal documents should be attached to the email and named pursuant to thenaming conventions listed below.

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• Appendix A-B Vendor Submittal Letter and Profile: Vendername-AppendixA-B.pdf

• Three (3) Professional Letters of Recommendation: Vendorname-Recommendations.pdf

• Appendix C Requirements Response Form: Vendorname-Appendix C.pdf

Responses will not be considered confidential or proprietary and are subject to applicable public record requests.

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COURTROOMAcoustic

treatments

Lighting

controls

Cable

management

COURTROOM TECHNOLOGY FRAMEWORK

AV controller/

mixer

Audio/ video/

document evidence

Remote cameras,

mics

Remote monitors, speakers

Audio/video recording, livestreams

Room monitors, speakers

Room cameras,

mics

Remote/virtual juries

require a similar

but isolated system.

ATTACHMENT A

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COURTROOM TECHNOLOGY CONSIDERATIONS MATRIXAV Type Devices Type Number/ Placement Portability Wired/ wireless Ability to mute/disable Format/ Connector/ Resolution

Audio in

Room micsDirectionality, Condenser/

Dynamic

Bench, litigants, witness

stand, jury boxFixed preferred

Wired preferred but tripping

hazardPreferred Connector

Remote participant mics

Multiple litigants and

witnesses, video remote

interpreter

Required

Audio evidence Connector, analog, audio format

Audio out

Room speakersSoundbar or separates,

Active or passive

Bench, litigants, witness

stand, jury box, galleryFixed preferred Wired preferred Preferred Connector, Analog or digital

Room assistive listening Multiple Wireless

Remote participant speakers

Multiple litigants and

witnesses, video remote

interpreter

Optional

Audio recording Preferred Connector, analog, media/file format

Video in

Room camerasFixed or pan/tilt/zoom

based on placement

Bench, litigants, witness

stand, jury box

Mostly fixed but some

portability if needed

Wired preferred but tripping

hazardConnector, video format

Remote participant cameras

Multiple litigants and

witnesses, video remote

interpreter

Optional

Electronic documents File format

Document scanner Optional Media/file format

Video evidence Media/file format

Video out

Video monitorsBench, litigants, witness,

jury, gallery

Mostly fixed but some

portability if needed

Wired preferred but tripping

hazardOptional Connector, Size, Resolution

Remote participant monitors

Multiple litigants and

witnesses, video remote

interpreter

Optional

AV controller/mixerAutomated or manually

controlled

Connector distance

limitationsConnector, media/file formats

Video recording Preferred Connector, media/file format

Video livestream Preferred

Room

Acoustic treatments Walls, ceiling, flooring

Lighting controlsOverhead lights, camera

lights blindsWired preferred

Cable management

cable guides/tape, floor

coverings, dropped

ceiling, raised floor

Power, video, audio, and

network cables

ATTACHMENT B

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APPENDIX A SUBMITTAL LETTER

Suzanne Eggert Contracts and Grants Manager Administrative Office of the Courts PO Box 98910 Lincoln, NE 68509-8910

Dear Ms. Eggert:

In response to your Request for Proposal (RFP), I certify that:

1. the RFP has been read and understood;2. vendor will comply with the requirements and expectations set forth in the RFP;3. the materials requested by the RFP are enclosed;4. all information provided is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge;5. this response is submitted by, or on behalf of, the party that will be legally

responsible for service delivery should they be selected for an award.

Signature of Authorized Official Date

Name of Signatory: _______________________________________________

Vendor: _____________________________________________________

Title: ______________________________ Phone: _________________

Address: _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Federal Employer ID# or SSN#: ___________________________________

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APPENDIX B VENDOR PROFILE

Vendor Name: _______________________________________________________________

1. List vendor’s physical address(es), mailing address(es), telephone number(s), and fax number(s) of any Nebraska office locations as well as other locations.

2. Who will be the primary point of contact (must be authorized to negotiate a contract) during the evaluation process? Please provide name, title, direct phone number, e-mail address, fax number, and mailing address(es).

3. Provide a brief history of vendor’s business.

4. Identify a single project manager that will be assigned by the vendor to work with the AOCP. Include contact information for this individual.

5. Comment on experience vendor has with work in the courts (federal, state or local).

6. Will any direct service rights or obligations be subcontracted in whole or in part outside of vendor? If yes, list and detail what service components will be subcontracted, name(s) of subcontractor(s), entity type, location(s), brief history of subcontractor(s)’ business, subcontractor(s)’ experience working in the courts (federal, state or local), and if subcontractor(s) has/have had a contract or account within the last five (5) years that was lost/cancelled or terminated for cause due to breach or similar failure to comply with the terms of the contract?

7. Has vendor had a contract or account within the last five (5) years that was lost/cancelled or terminated for cause due to breach or similar failure to comply with the terms of the contract? If yes, please provide detailed explanation.

8. Vendor shall provide three (3) professional letters of recommendation from current clients in one separate pdf as specified in Section V.

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APPENDIX C REQUIREMENTS RESPONSE FORM

Vendor Name: _______________________________________________________________

Describe how you will meet all of the requirements set forth in Section III.B. Preface each response with the Section and Subsection it applies to. (Attach additional pages as necessary and include in one pdf pursuant to the instructions in Section V.)

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