ADDENDUM NO. 1
Questions and Answers (Q&A)
 Jail Management System for Juvenile Detention Facility
 RFP No. 2026-2-11642

Date:    March 5, 2026

BID DATE AND TIME: The date and time for the opening of this bid will be extended.  The new date and time will be March 24, 2026 at 2:00PM CST.

Location for the bid opening remains the office of the Chief Financial Officer, located at 200 West College Street, Room 125, Columbiana, AL 35051

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This Addendum is hereby made a part of the above-referenced RFP. The following questions were received from prospective vendors and are answered below for clarification purposes. Except as specifically amended herein, all terms, conditions, and requirements of the original RFP remain unchanged.

Question 1:

Does Shelby County currently utilize a Case Management or JMS system at the juvenile detention facility? If so, what system is currently in use?

Answer:

No.

Question 2:

The bid documents specify a 1-year contract period with renewal options but does not indicate a desired go-live date. This affects project planning, staffing, and pricing.

Answer:

Fall of 2026

Question 3:

Will the County be scheduling vendor demonstrations or oral presentations as part of the evaluation process?

Answer:

Yes.  

Question 4:

Is there existing data from a current system that will need to be migrated into the new JMS? If so, what is the approximate volume and format of that data?

Answer:

No

Question 5:

The Invitation to Bid states that bids must be submitted in a sealed envelope in triplicate and cannot be electronic. Can you confirm whether a physical bid submission to the Chief Financial Officer’s office is the only accepted delivery method?

Answer:

Yes…State of Alabama bid law denotes this is the only acceptable way to receive a bid.

Question 6:

Will there be any need for interfaces with other systems or data migration?

Answer:

No interfaces are needed.  The listed systems are sources of data that may be transferred in/out via manual inputs if needed. 

Question 7:

Does the 36-month subscription quantity on the Bid Form represent the full expected contract term, or is there flexibility for different term lengths? Is the County open to annual billing vs. monthly billing?

Answer:

The period of this contract will be for one (1) year from date bid is awarded. This contract may be renewed for up to three (3) years from the initial award date upon the agreement of both parties under the same terms and conditions. 

Question 8:

What specific assessments and screeners does Shelby County currently utilize (e.g., MAYSI-2, YLS, PACT, RAI, custom instruments)? Are you looking for the ability to administer assessments within the JMS, or simply to record scores from assessments performed outside the system?

Answer:

We prefer to administer assessments or capture the process within the JMS.

Question 9:

What are your specific expectations for movement tracking within the facility? For example: manual radio-based communication to a control room, RFID token scanning at room entry/exit points, wristband scanning at specific locations, or software-based logging by staff?

Answer:

RFID/tracking is not required – although please denote other options if embedded.  Software-based logging by staff is planned.  

Question 10:

Regarding housing and classification modules: what specific separation criteria does the facility currently use beyond male/female and age (e.g., offense severity, gang affiliation, mental health classification, protective custody)?

Answer:

Offense severity, gang affiliation, mental health classification, protective custody, sex offenders, co-defendants (keep separate).  Census currently averages 16 per day.

Question 11:

Does the facility currently track education participation and programming within the detention facility, or is this handled by a separate educational entity (e.g., local school district)? Is there an expectation that the JMS will integrate with any educational systems?

Answer:

No integration is needed.   Local school onsite with separate school systems based on district school child is attending.  

Question 12:

What specific types of programming does the facility offer to residents (e.g., behavioral programs, substance abuse, life skills, community service, vocational)? Is there an expectation for the JMS to track individual program progress, completion milestones, and behavioral points/levels?

Answer:

The only program we would need to be able to track is our Behavior Modification Program (BMP). It is our points system and how they earn levels that give them extra privileges.

Question 13:

Does the facility currently utilize an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system for medication administration and medical inventory? If so, is there an expectation that the JMS and EMR will integrate? What specific data would need to flow between the two systems?

Answer:

No interface is currently necessary.  We do have an electronic medical records system - CorEMR.

Question 14:

What level of medical record-keeping is expected within the JMS? Should the system serve as the primary medical record, or as a supplement to a separate medical system?

Answer:

It would be a supplemental system to our EMR.

Question 15:

The specifications reference “support for secure integration” with law enforcement RMS/JMS, courts, medical providers, the County’s automated victim notification system, and state data systems. Is this section about having the capability/potential for integration, or are specific integrations expected to be operational at the time of go-live? If integrations are expected at go-live, please provide a list of specific systems, the data required for transfer, directionality (one-way ingest or bidirectional), and available API or data transfer documentation.

Answer:

No interfaces are needed.   The listed systems are sources of data that may be transferred in/out via manual inputs if needed. 

Question 16:

What specific state data systems does Alabama require juvenile detention facilities to report to? Are there mandated reporting formats, frequencies, or data elements?

Answer:

None

Question 17:

What is the County’s automated victim notification system? Is this an Alabama state system, or a county-level system? What interface method does it use (API, file export, manual entry)?

Answer:

Internal report only, no interface needed.

Question 18:

Does the County have a preference for cloud-hosted, on-premises, or hybrid deployment? The specifications reference cloud, on-premises, and hybrid options – is the County evaluating all three, or is there a preferred approach?

Answer:

We are evaluating all of these options.

Question 19:

The specifications mention compatibility with VMware vSphere and specific database platforms (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle). Is the County mandating a specific database or virtualization platform, or are these listed as examples of acceptable technologies?

Answer:

This is a list of acceptable technologies.

Question 20:

Does the County currently have CJIS Security Addendum requirements in place for vendors? Will the selected vendor’s staff need to undergo background checks or fingerprinting to access CJIS-regulated data?

Answer:

Any vendor that does work with this system is required to be Alabama CJIS certified.

Question 21:

What specific authentication protocol does the County prefer or currently use (SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Active Directory/LDAP)? Is single sign-on (SSO) with an existing County identity provider expected?

Answer:

Active Directory/LDAP

Question 22:

The specifications request on-site, remote, virtual, and self-paced training options. For pricing purposes, how many on-site training sessions and days does the County anticipate? Is there a preference for the initial training delivery method?

Answer:

We would prefer maybe a mixed of on-site and remote.

Question 23:

With approximately 12 users identified in the specifications, should training be organized by role (detention officers, supervisors, medical staff, administration, IT) with tailored curricula for each, or is a single comprehensive training approach preferred?

Answer:

Two groups would be ideal - IT/Admin training and a comprehensive training for end users.

Question 24:

What specific reports does the facility currently generate (e.g., daily population counts, incident summaries, state-mandated reports, JJDPA compliance reports)? Are there specific report templates or formats that must be replicated in the new system?

Answer:

Daily population counts, intakes and releases, incident summaries…etc.

Question 25:

Regarding document management and imaging: what types and volume of documents does the facility currently scan and store (e.g., court orders, intake forms, medical records, consent forms)? Is OCR capability a firm requirement, or is basic document storage and retrieval sufficient?

Answer:

Basic document storage is fine as long as it is indexed to the specific juvenile. 

Question 26:

Is there a requirement to export data to an external data warehouse, or is the reporting expected to be self-contained within the JMS?

Answer:

Reporting will be self-contained.

Question 27:

The Sample Contract (Section 4c) requires prior written approval for subcontracting. Does the County consider cloud infrastructure hosting providers (e.g., Microsoft Azure) to be subcontractors under this provision?

Answer:

Cloud Infrastructure hosting is not considered a subcontractor.

Question 28:

Does the facility use any current hardware (barcode scanners, wristband printers, signature pads, tablets, kiosks) that you expect the JMS to support? Are there plans to procure new hardware as part of this project?

Answer:

We do not have any existing hardware that will need to be integrated.  Workflow efficiencies are welcome.

Question 29:

Does the facility currently manage visitation scheduling, and is there an expectation for the JMS to support online visitation scheduling by family members/guardians?

Answer:

We do not offer external visitation scheduling via software.  We do need to be able to document and keep track of visits.

Question 30:

The specifications mention phone/video call logs. Is there an expectation for the JMS to integrate with a facility phone or video visitation system, or simply to provide a method for staff to manually log calls and visits?

Answer:

No integration with phone system.  

Question 31:

Should electronic signature capture (e.g., intake forms, medical consent, property receipts) be included?

Answer:

Yes

Question 32:

Would the County consider a solution that includes browser-based tablet/mobile workflows and a secure desktop application interface for certain functions, while continuing migration toward a fully browser-based interface, provided all functional, security, and accessibility requirements are met?

Answer:

Yes