Date: 10-30-2024

Case Style:

Inmate Calling Solutions, LLC, d/b/a Icsolutions v. Iowa Communications Network and Securus Technologies, Inc.

Case Number: 23-1039

Judge: Coleman McCallister

Court: District Court, Polk County, Iowa

Plaintiff's Attorney:

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Defendant's Attorney: Iowa Attorney General's Office for the State

Michael R. Reck and Mariah L. Sukalski for Securus Technologies

Description:

Des Moines, Iowa civil and commercial litigation lawyers represented the Plaintiff who challenged the award of a public contract.

In 2020, the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) issued a request for proposal seeking bids from companies to provide communication services to the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) for the benefit of incarcerated individuals. The services sought included giving incarcerated individuals telephone access in addition to tablets and video visitation. Three companies submitted proposals to the ICN. Those companies were Inmate Calling Solutions (Inmate Calling), the company that was then providing the DOC with communication services; Securus Technologies, Inc. (Securus); and a third company.

The DOC initially issued a notice of intent to award the contract to Securus. Inmate Calling challenged the notice of intent via agency review with the Iowa Telecommunications and Technology Commission (ITTC).[1] The ITTC rescinded the initial notice of intent and directed the ICN to rescore the proposals previously submitted by the companies using different evaluators to avoid the perception of bias.[2] A new set of evaluators rescored the proposals, and again the evaluators scored the Securus proposal the highest. The director of the DOC then issued another notice of intent to Securus.

Inmate Calling again sought agency review of the process, this time challenging multiple aspects of the bid process. Following a hearing, an administrative law judge issued a proposed decision rejecting Inmate Calling's challenges. Inmate Calling appealed that ruling to the ITTC, which adopted the administrative law judge's proposed decision as the final agency decision. Inmate Calling petitioned for judicial review under Iowa Code chapter 17A (2022). The district court denied the petition, and Inmate Calling appeals.

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Inmate Calling Sols. v. Iowa Commc'ns Network, 23-1039 (Iowa App. Oct 30, 2024)

Outcome:
We have considered Inmate Calling's appellate arguments, including those not specifically discussed herein, and we conclude Inmate Calling has established no basis for relief upon judicial review.[8] We conclude Inmate Calling waived its statutory-authority challenges. The parties involved did not violate the terms of the request for proposal. The decision to issue the notice of intent to Securus was not arbitrary and capricious, without a rational basis, or an abuse of discretion.

AFFIRMED.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: