Opinion ID: 4569232
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Model Procurement Code

Text: In Landrum v. Commonwealth ex rel. Beshear, 599 S.W.3d 781, 789 (Ky. 2019), we unequivocally held the Model Procurement Code, KRS Chapter 45A, applies to contracts entered into by the OAG. All contracts with the Commonwealth must be in writing. See KRS 45A.245(1) (authorizing contract actions against the Commonwealth based on “lawfully authorized written contracts[]”). Contracts may not extend past the biennium in which they are entered. KRS 45A.145(1). Modifications of contracts with the Commonwealth must be in writing and approved by the Office of Procurement Services. See Finance and Administration Cabinet Manual of Policies and Procedures, FAP 110-10-00(22) “[d]uring the period of the contract, a modification shall not be permitted in any of its conditions and specifications, unless the contractor receives electronic or written approval from OPS[]”.3 Similarly, FAP 111-4300(5) provides Modification to a PSC shall be processed in the same manner as the original Contract in the state’s eProcurement system. A Modification shall be used, if the parties to an established PSC agree, to increase or decrease funds, revise the scope of work, extend the time for performance within the current biennium or any other change. (Emphasis added.) 3 KRS 45A.035(1) authorizes the Cabinet secretary to adopt regulations. 200 KAR 5:021 § 2 incorporates the Cabinet’s Manual of Policies and Procedures. 6 We have held “anyone who deals or contracts with public officials or with public bodies must at his own peril take notice of their authority since they can only act within the limits of express or necessarily implied powers conferred upon them by law.” Commonwealth v. Whitworth, 74 S.W.3d 695, 699 (Ky. 2002) (citation omitted). Long ago, our predecessor court expressed a similar rule with respect to municipalities, “[a]ny other rule would destroy all the restrictions which are thrown around the people of municipalities for their protection by the statute laws and the Constitution and would render abortive all such provisions. The rule in certain instances may be harsh, but no other is practical.” City of Princeton v. Princeton Elec. Light & Power Co., 166 Ky. 730, 741, 179 S.W. 1074, 1079 (1915).