41-2632

41-2632. Cooperative purchasing authorized;
definitions

A. Any public procurement unit may either participate in, sponsor, conduct or
administer a cooperative purchasing agreement for the procurement of any materials,
services, professional services, construction or construction services with one or more
public procurement units in accordance with an agreement entered into between the
participants. A nonprofit educational or public health institution may enter into an
agreement pursuant to this section if one or more of the parties involved is a public
procurement unit. An agreement entered into as provided in this article is exempt from
section 11-952, subsection D. Parties under a cooperative purchasing agreement may:

1. Sponsor, conduct or administer a cooperative agreement for the procurement or
disposal of any materials, services or construction.

2. Cooperatively use materials or services.

3. Commonly use or share warehousing facilities, capital equipment and other
facilities.

4. Provide personnel, except that the requesting public procurement unit shall pay
the public procurement unit providing the personnel the direct and indirect cost of
providing the personnel, in accordance with the agreement.

5. On request, make available to other public procurement units informational,
technical or other services or software that may assist in improving the efficiency or
economy of procurement. The public procurement unit furnishing the informational,
technical or other services or software has the right to request reimbursement for
the reasonable and necessary costs of providing these services or software.

B. The school facilities board or school districts, or both, may enter into an
agreement with a public procurement unit pursuant to this section for the purpose of
procuring materials and services needed to correct deficiencies in school facilities.

C. The activities described in this section do not limit what parties may do under
a cooperative purchasing agreement.

D. A nonprofit corporation operating as a public procurement unit under this
section, on request of the auditor general, shall provide to the auditor general all
documentation concerning any cooperative purchasing transaction the public procurement
unit administers under this section.

E. A nonprofit corporation operating as a public procurement unit under this
section shall comply with all procurement laws applicable to the public procurement unit
participating in a cooperative purchasing transaction that the nonprofit corporation
administers.

F. This section does not abrogate the responsibility of each public procurement
unit to ensure compliance with procurement laws that apply to the particular public
procurement, notwithstanding the fact that the cooperative purchase is administered by a
nonprofit corporation operating under this section.

G. Any public procurement unit conducting or administering a cooperative purchasing
agreement for the procurement of construction services or professional services shall
comply with the requirements of section 34-603 or 41-2578.

H. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Construction services" has the same meaning prescribed in section 41-2503.

2. "Professional services" has the same meaning prescribed in section 41-2578.