KRS 45A.097: Governmental body's acceptance of donation and gifts and consideration

of establishing commemoration, memorial, naming rights, or sponsorships.

(1) A governmental body may accept donations and gifts from persons or businesses to

further the gover nmental body's mission or to benefit the Commonwealth.

Donations and gifts shall not be from a prohibited source.

(2) In exchange for a donation or gift, a governmental body may consider an

accompanying request for a commemoration or memorial, but all such requests

involving state property shall be subject to approval by the secretary.

(3) Except as provided in KRS 45A.095(2)(d), naming rights of structures, buildings, or

any other physical property owned or operated by the Commonwealth of Kentucky

shall be competitively awarded pursuant to KRS Chapter 45A and subject to review

and approval by the secretary. Naming rights shall not constitute an endorsement of

a particular business by the Commonwealth.

(4) Notwithstanding KRS Chapter 11A, a governmental body may accept and solicit

sponsorships from persons and businesses in the following manner:

(a) A sponsorship shall be for a defined period of time, a specific event, or a

particular governmental body purchase or need;

(b) A governmental body seeking to soli cit a sponsorship shall advertise the

sponsorship opportunity on its Web site, newsletter, or other written media for

a minimum of seven (7) calendar days. A sponsorship opportunity shall

describe the number of potential sponsorships available, the relativ e

importance of price and other evaluation factors used to ensure "best value" as

defined in KRS 45A.070, and the advertising or similar commercial

considerations available from the Commonwealth for a particular sponsorship

opportunity;

(c) The governmental body shall notify the Office of Material and Procurement

Services in the Office of the Controller of the Finance and Administration

Cabinet by providing copies of its sponsorship opportunity advertisements to

the office. If the Office of Procurement Services approves or does not respond

to the governmental body within one (1) business day of notification, the

governmental body may proceed under this subsection;

(d) At the end of the advertising period for a sponsorship, all responses shall be

evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factors set forth in the

sponsorship opportunity;

(e) Written or oral discussions may be conducted with responsible bidders in

accordance with KRS 45A.085(7);

(f) A sponsorship shall be awarded to the responsible bidder dete rmined in

writing to be most advantageous to the Commonwealth, taking into

consideration the evaluation factors set forth in the sponsorship opportunity.

All evaluation documentation, scoring, and summary conclusions of the award

shall be made a part of the file or governmental body record;

(g) If insufficient eligible responses are received in response to the advertising of

a sponsorship opportunity, and the purchasing officer determines in writing

that further bidding would not likely result in additional responsive proposals

being received by the Commonwealth, then noncompetitive negotiations with

nonprohibited sources may be used to award contracts for the remaining

number of sponsorships available;

(h) A sponsorship shall not constitute an endorsement o f a particular business by

the Commonwealth as the sole vendor of choice; and

(i) An entity that is a prohibited source may be considered for a sponsorship

opportunity only if there is a written finding by the purchasing officer that:

1. The entity is not lobbying or attempting to influence matters of the

governmental body; and

2. The sponsorship will provide:

a. A public benefit to the Commonwealth; or

b. Economic development or enhanced tourism in the

Commonwealth.

(5) An entity that is a prohibited source due to its current contractual relationship with a

governmental body may provide conferences or training events for the benefit of the

governmental body only:

(a) When the entity does not have any interests that might be affected by the

performance or nonperformance of the governmental body's official duties;

and

(b) The conference or training promotes safety, economic development, or

tourism in the Commonwealth, or there is otherwise a public benefit to the

Commonwealth.

(6) Governmental body employees whose official duties include acceptance or

solicitation of donations, gifts, or sponsorships shall not be involved with:

(a) The solicitation or award of contracts by the governmental body; or

(b) The noncompetitive neg otiation of naming rights of structures, buildings, or

any physical property owned or operated by the Commonwealth.