(a) Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, or contractor who is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation, evaluation, or award of a purchase contract may formally protest to the commissioner of the General Land Office. Such protests must be in writing and actually received by the General Land Office by mail or delivery within 10 working days after such aggrieved person knows, or should have known, of the occurrence of the action, which is protested. Formal protests must conform to the requirements of this section, and shall be resolved in accordance with the procedure set forth herein. Copies of the protest must also be mailed or delivered by the protesting party to other interested parties. For the purposes of this section, "interested parties" means all vendors who have submitted bids or proposals for the contract involved.
(b) In the event of a timely formal protest under this section, the General Land Office shall not proceed further with the solicitation or with the award of the contract unless the commissioner makes a written determination that the award of contract without delay is necessary to protect substantial interests of the state or the Permanent School Fund.
(c) A formal protest must be sworn and contain:
  (1) a specific identification of the statutory or regulatory provision(s) that the action complained of is alleged to have violated;
  (2) a specific description of each act alleged to have violated the statutory or regulatory provision(s) identified in paragraph (1) of this subsection;
  (3) a precise statement of the relevant facts;
  (4) an identification of the issue or issues to be resolved;
  (5) argument and authorities in support of the protest; and
  (6) a statement that copies of the protest have been mailed or delivered to the General Land Office and other identifiable interested parties.
(d) The commissioner may solicit written responses to the protest from other interested parties or any other party the commissioner determines could provide relevant information.
(e) If the protest is not resolved by mutual agreement, the commissioner will issue a final written determination on the protest.
  (1) If the commissioner determines that no violation of rules or statutes has occurred, he shall so inform the protesting party and other interested parties by letter which sets forth the reasons for the determination.
  (2) If the commissioner determines that a violation of the rules or statutes has occurred in a case where a contract has not been awarded, he shall so inform the protesting party and other interested parties by letter which sets forth the reasons for the determination and the appropriate remedial action.
  (3) If the commissioner determines that a violation of the rules or statutes has occurred in a case where a contract has been awarded, he shall so inform the protesting party and other interested parties by letter which sets forth the reasons for the determination, which may include determining that the contract is void.
(f) All documents collected by the General Land Office as part of a solicitation, evaluation, and/or award of a contract shall be kept on file at the General Land Office for a period of at least two years from the date of the solicitation.
(g) Protests that do not satisfy the requirements of this section may be dismissed by the General Land Office administratively and without written notice of dismissal.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.50 adopted to be effective January 9, 2003, 28 TexReg 481