OHCA Policies and Rules
317:10-1-25.1. Proprietary or confidentiality claims
[Revised 09-12-22]
(a) Unless otherwise specified in the Oklahoma Open Records Act, Central Purchasing Act, or other applicable law, documents and information that a bidder submits as part of or in connection with a bid are public records and subject to disclosure after the contract has been awarded pursuant to OAC 260:115-3-9.
(1) No portion of a bid shall be considered confidential after award of the contract except, pursuant to 74 O.S. '85.10, information in the bid determined to be confidential by the State Purchasing Director or delegate.
(2) A properly submitted confidentiality claim of a potential awardee is reviewed and determined prior to award.
(3) A properly submitted confidentiality claim of a non-awarded bidder is reviewed and determined only when responding to an open records request concerning the bid.
(b) Among the parties to a solicitation, OHCA is the sole and final determiner of the proprietary or confidential nature of a bid in part or in whole.
(1) OHCA has no responsibility to independently review a bid, including any associated documentation or information, for a potential proprietary or confidentiality claim.
(2) OHCA will not consider a proprietary or confidentiality claim if a bid fails to comply with the requirements of this section, the solicitation, and applicable law, including OAC 260:115-3-9. Nonconforming bids will be subject to disclosure pursuant to State law.
(3) A bidder, who wishes to seek an exemption from disclosure under the Oklahoma Open Records Act or other statutory or regulatory requirements, is responsible for asserting any right of confidentiality that may exist. The OHCA will not assert a right of confidentiality on behalf of a bidder.
(c) To claim any portion of a bid as proprietary or confidential, the bidder will:
(1) Specifically identify what information is considered by the bidder to be confidential;
(2) Enumerate the specific grounds, based on applicable laws, which support treatment of the information as exempt from disclosure;
(3) Explain why disclosure is not in the best interest of the public if the information is incorporated into an awarded contract;
(4) Submit all information considered confidential under separate cover as described below; and
(5) Include, for efficient evaluation, the content considered confidential in applicable sections of the bid.
(d) Any bidder with bid information the bidder considers confidential must submit an additional electronic copy of the bid with the claimed information redacted (marked out to be illegible). The additional copy must be clearly labeled "Redacted Copy." If the bidder provides a copy of its bid with proprietary and confidential information redacted and OHCA appropriately supplies the redacted bid to another party under the Oklahoma Open Records Act or other statutory or regulatory requirements, the bidder agrees to indemnify OHCA and to defend the bidder's interest in protecting the referenced redacted material.
(e) OHCA does not consider as confidential a bid marked in total as proprietary and/or confidential (versus specific documents or portions of documents within a bid). Likewise, unless specifically referenced otherwise in a solicitation, resumes, pricing, marketing materials, business references, additional terms proposed by a bidder, and subcontractor information are not confidential and are not exempt from disclosure under the Oklahoma Open Records Act. The foregoing list is not exhaustive but is intended to address information often marked confidential that is not exempt from disclosure.
(f) Subject to the provisions of subsections (a)-(e) above, bids will be open for public inspection following contract award.
Disclaimer. The OHCA rules found on this Web site are unofficial. The official rules are published by the Oklahoma Secretary of State Office of Administrative Rules as Title 317 of the Oklahoma Administrative Code. To order an official copy of these rules, contact the Office of Administrative Rules at (405) 521-4911.
