Bidder Solicitation Response Instructions - Confidentiality Requests

State Bidders are hereby notified that, unless otherwise specified in the Oklahoma Open Records Act, Central Purchasing Act, or other applicable law, documents and information a Bidder submits as part of or in connection with a Bid are public records and are subject to disclosure after contract award pursuant to OAC 260:115-3-9. A public Bid opening does not make the Bid immediately accessible to the public.

All material submitted by a Bidder becomes the property of the state and is subject to public information disclosure laws. 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 deemed confidential by the State Purchasing Director or delegate.

Typically, a properly submitted confidentiality claim of a potential awardee is reviewed and determined prior to award; 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. 

When responding to a solicitation, state Bidders proposing confidentiality of response must adhere to the requirements outlined within the Bidder Instructions document provided by the state agency within the published solicitation. Detailed instructions regarding confidentiality requests may be found in Sections 6 and 8.2C of the Bidder Instructions.

Failure to fully comply with instructions regarding proposed confidential information shall result in the proposed information being deemed NOT confidential and will be subject to an Open Records request.