Opinion ID: 1154635
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Fourth and Fifth Circuits

Text: In D.J. Talley & Son, Inc. v. City of New Orleans, 303 So.2d 195 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1974), the lowest bidder filed a mandamus suit to compel the City to issue a contract to it after a protest as to the regularity of the bid caused the City to reject all bids. At that time, LSA-R.S. 38:2212, the predecessor to the current LSA-R.S. 38:2214, provided that the governing authority may reject any and all bids, without any restrictions or qualifications. Consequently, the appellate court held that the court had no power to require the acceptance of a bid and affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the suit. In 1988, the Fourth Circuit revisited the same area of the law in the HTW Transportation Co. case. An unsuccessful bidder for a contract filed suit to set aside the award of the contract to another bidder and to enjoin the awarding body from executing the contract. The appellate court acknowledged the 1982 and 1983 amendments to the Public Bid Law as restricting the awarding agency's discretion to require just cause for the rejection of the lowest responsible bidder, citing the Pittman case. 527 So.2d at 342. However, the court concluded that, since the awarding agency had reserved the right to reject any and all bids, the court had no authority to require the acceptance of HTW's bid. In support of this conclusion, the court cited the Talley case, which was decided prior to the amendment of the statute. Thus, the court remanded the matter to give the awarding agency an opportunity to reject all bids and readvertise. In deciding Starlight Homes, Inc. v. Jefferson Parish Council, 93-746 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/9/94), 632 So.2d 3, writ denied, 94-0610 (La. 4/29/94), 637 So.2d 462, reconsideration denied, 94-0610 (La. 6/17/94), 638 So.2d 1079, the Fifth Circuit followed the lead of the Fourth Circuit. There, the awarding authority, the Parish of Jefferson, reserved the right to reject any and all bids in whole or in part. The court stated as follows: Although that discretion has been limited by the 1982 and 1983 amendments to the public bid law requiring just cause for the rejection of the lowest responsible bidder, where the advertisement allows for the rejection of all bids, just cause is not required to reject all bids and readvertise the project. See LSA-R.S. 38:2215; [ Thigpen] Construction Co., Inc. v. Parish of Jefferson, 560 So.2d 947 (5th Cir.1990); HTW Transportation Co., Inc. v. New Orleans Aviation Board, 527 So.2d 339 (4th Cir.1988). 632 So.2d at 4-5.