Paragon Systems, Inc. (15M20021RA32CSO21)

B-420362.7 Dec 12, 2022 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Paragon Systems, Inc., of Herndon, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend the agency reimburse it for the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing a protest of the award of a contract to Centerra Group, LLC, of Herndon, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 15M20021RA32CSO21, issued by the Department of Justice, United States Marshal Service (USMS), for non-commercial, armed security guard services, referred to as court security officers (CSO), for the 12th federal judicial Circuit. The requester contends that the agency failed to take prompt corrective action in response to clearly meritorious protest grounds. We grant the request. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Paragon Systems, Inc.--Costs File: B-420362.7 Date: December 12, 2022 Scott F. Lane, Esq., Katherine S. Nucci, Esq., and Jayna Marie Rust, Esq., Thompson Coburn LLP, for the protester. C. Joseph Carroll, Esq., Department of Justice, for the agency. Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and Alexander O. Levine, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Request that GAO recommend reimbursement of protest costs is granted where challenge to the agency’s unequal evaluation of technical proposals was clearly meritorious, and the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action. DECISION Paragon Systems, Inc., of Herndon, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend the agency reimburse it for the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing a protest of the award of a contract to Centerra Group, LLC, of Herndon, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 15M20021RA32CSO21, issued by the Department of Justice, United States Marshal Service (USMS), for non-commercial, armed security guard services, referred to as court security officers (CSO), for the 12th federal judicial Circuit. The requester contends that the agency failed to take prompt corrective action in response to clearly meritorious protest grounds. We grant the request. BACKGROUND The agency issued the RFP on July 7, 2021, for CSO services in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 12th federal judicial Circuits. The solicitation stated that the agency would make one award per circuit to the responsible offeror proposing the best value, “considering technical rating, past performance, and price for each Circuit.” Agency Report (AR), Tab 1, RFP at 184.[1] This request only concerns the award of a contract for CSO services for the 12th Circuit. According to the solicitation, the technical evaluation would consist of an evaluation of each of the following technical factors: recruitment program and vetting applicants; medical qualification and review process; training and qualifications program; quality assurance/quality control plan; and phase in/phase out transition plan.[2] Id. at 185. The RFP provided that technical capability and past performance would be approximately equal in importance and, when combined, significantly more important than price. Id. at 183. The solicitation contemplated the award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite‑quantity, time-and-materials contract for a 1‑year base period and four 1-year options. Id. at 2. The agency received and evaluated five proposals from offerors for the 12th Circuit, including Paragon and Centerra, and selected Centerra for award. Contracting Officer Statement/Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 6. Paragon then protested the award to our Office on November 15. While the agency was preparing the agency report, it discovered that it had misevaluated price proposals for the 12th Circuit procurement. Id. at 13. In this regard, the agency’s original 12th Circuit price evaluation mistakenly concluded that Paragon’s price was higher than Centerra’s price. Id. at 13-14. On December 14, the agency notified our Office that it would take corrective action with regard to the 12th Circuit procurement. Specifically, the agency stated that it would reevaluate the price proposals and make a new award decision based upon that reevaluation. Id. at 12-13; B-420362 Notice of Corrective Action (Dec. 14, 2021). On December 27, Paragon filed a supplemental protest challenging the agency’s comparative analysis of proposals. On January 11, 2022, Paragon withdrew its GAO protest in order to pursue a protest at the Court of Federal Claims.[3] That same day, the agency notified Paragon that it completed its corrective action concerning the 12th Circuit award and confirmed the contract award to Centerra. B-420362.3, AR, Tab 9, Notice of Award Letter.