Under existing law, a public awarding authority is required by law to advertise for sealed bids in a manner required by law before awarding a contract for a public works. If the awarding authority acts in good faith reliance on an advertiser, the awarding authority may award the contract notwithstanding an advertiser's failure to properly publish the advertisement. This bill would provide greater specificity for the procedure to ratify an advertiser's failure to properly publish an advertisement for sealed bids. Also under existing law, a willful violation of the public works law is a Class C felony. This bill would provide that an advertiser bears no criminal liability for its negligence to properly advertise a public notice but would authorize the award of civil damages for the negligence.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 39-2-2