4/26/2019

The RFP Opening Date has been changed to May 7, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. local time.

4/25/2019

Question:  Will a vendor be excluded if they do not have references for Clerk of the Circuit Court Counties in Illinois.  Or will other customer references with similar types of work, complexity and volume be acceptable as long as we have a clear understanding of your requirements?

Response:  A vendor will not be excluded for having references outside of the state.  Other references would be acceptable for similar types of work.

Question:  Is it acceptable for us to include multiple partners for this bid.  i.e. Box storage or microfilm processing partner?

Response:  Yes.

Question:  Must we bid on all line items on the pricing spreadsheet to be considered?

Response:  Yes, but may be a third party.

Question:  Are there permanent removal fees to be paid to your current vendor and if so what are those costs?

Response:  No, there are no removal fees.

Question:  What is the estimated number of boxes that we will be able to pickup at one time?

Response:  Will vary on case type.

Question:  Can the county provide an electronic listing of all files by box for the vendor's use for verification of receipt?

Response:  We currently have a record management system, therefore we would struggle to provide a verification receipt using this system.

Question:  What percent of documents would you describe as damaged/fragile?

Response:  Less than 5%. 

Question:  What percent of the film has rust?

Response:  Less than 5%.

Question:  Will we be able to periodically destroy documents throughout the term of the project or will we need to store all documents for the entire 3 years?

Response:  Varies depending on case type.

Question:  What percent of documents are double-sided?

Response:  This information is currently unavailable.

Question:  RFP says 5 user licenses, questions response was 200 needing DMS access:  Please clarify.
             
Response:  We currently have 200 users for our DMS.  That DMS will no longer exist when we have a new CMS.  Therefore, we are seeking pricing for 5 user licenses.

Question:  What is the network environment for Lake County?

Response:  We are seeking the conversion of paper files to a pdf.  This system will not be networking with Lake County until the new CMS is in place.

Question: How many different systems (name and version) will the proposed solution need to interface with?

Response:  Uncertain, new CMS is in the works.

Question: Are there digital files currently hosted that will need to be migrated to the proposed solutions?  Type and Size

Response:  No.

Question:  Will the proposed hosted solution need to have the ability for workflow and/or iForms?

Response:  No.
 
Question: Is the record storage boxes at a vendor and are there charges for removal?

Response:  Yes there are record storage boxes at off-site locations that will need to be removed.  There is no charge to remove the boxes.

Question:  Please list the Case types to be scanned.

Response:  All case types, excluding traffic, Ordinance Violations, and old small claims cases.

Question:  For every Case type category are we to use the same file volume of 68  pages per file?        

Response:  No, that is simply an average of the number of pages per file over all case types.

Question:  What is the percentage of backsides we are to use for the bid?

Response:  We do not know the percentage.

Question:  The bid states the index requirements for every file are Case #, Case type, Defendant (first and last name) , Plaintiff (first and last name), File Date and Unique document ID.  Is this true for every file within Case type?

Response:  Yes, except, in criminal cases the plaintiff is the State of Illinois.

Question:  What is the character length for each index field?

Response:  Answer:  From 2-40.

Question:  Do Case file folders need to be scanned?

Response:  No.

Question:  Which Case types make up the 3,696,000 pages for the on-site conversion?

Response:  All, as set forth above.

Question:  With Lake County requiring constant access to the physical files and/or site visits, shouldn’t the selected vendor be within 50 miles in proximity of the Lake County Clerk’s Office?  

Response:  No.

Question:  What is the average image count per roll for the 11,801 rolls to be digitized?

Response:  For the 16mm film we have 2 different formats. Oracle film has about 2500 images per roll and Imagelink film has about 4000 per roll(this format films the front and back of the document at the same time so they might say there are 8000 images per roll). The 35mm film has about 1000 images per roll. Averaging these different formats out probably about 3000 images would be close unless they include the backside images of the Imagelink film. Then I would say 6000 images per roll.

Question:  Will every Case # on every roll need to be indexed by Case #, Case type, Defendant (first and last name), Plaintiff (first and last name), file date, and Unique ID #?  Or can we just index by From - Thru limits on each roll of film.

Response:   Yes, it will need to be indexed by case #, case type and defendant/plaintiff.  The intent is to be able to access the information electronically through the new CMS in the future.

Question:  Please describe in detail all aspects of the on-site scanning requirements including the DM details such as what systems we’re interfacing with.

Response:  The aspects of on-site scanning would be the same as the off-site.  We do not have details on a DM at this time as we are still in vendor negotiations.

Question:  Can a sample file be provided for vendors to provide a test?

Response:  No.

Question:  What are the dimensions of the boxes that make up the 12,248 cubic feet of storage space?  How many boxes of each different size dimension?

Response:  They are all banker boxes.

Question:  The bid is asking for a hosting solution of 2 different types.  A 5 user license solution and a cloud based solution.  Do you want pricing for both?

Response:  Yes.

Question:  Is the an electronic file available Lake County has that relates Case # to case type,  defendant and plaintiff name, etc.  that can be used for match and merge purposes?  This would be helpful for indexing purposes.

Response:  We have a record management system that relates case no to case type, defendant/plaintiff, however we were not intending to connect the systems since we are getting a new CMS.  We are uncertain  if there will be functionality to allow match and merge.

Question:  The Pricing Table requests pricing for Onsite Services for 3.696M docs.  Are there particular case types or case years that the County wants converted onsite verse offsite?  If so, please explain the case file doc types and years.

Response:  It includes all case types.  The documents that we would like scanned on-site are pending cases.

Question:  Does the estimated 3.696M documents needing scanned onsite represent only open case files or open and closed case files?

Response:  They are pending.

Question:  The County timeline reflects having a signed contract by August 13th.  On what date does the County want the services to begin?

Response:  That is to be determined at the time of contract negotiations.

Question:  Space and Facilities.  Does the County have a designated space with office furniture, telephones, lighting, electrical outlets, and internet connectivity for the contractor to perform onsite services?  If so, can the County please provide a floorplan or square footage of the area and information on phone and internet/Lan connectivity points?

Response:  There will be a conference space with all necessary facilities for onsite scanning.

Question:  Will the space provided for onsite scanning be close to the case files needing to be scanned and if not what would be the distance between the two?

Response:  It will be close.

Question:  Will the Circuit Clerks Office provide assistance during the ramp up in regard to learning curve needed in understanding your specific court files?

Response:  Yes.  The Circuit Clerk’s office will be involved as much as they are needed.

Question:  What is the location and office hours/days available for the onsite team to conduct operations?

Response:  Waukegan, IL Main Courthouse, 8:30am to 5:00pm.  Vernon Hills, IL, Juvenile Court Complex, 8:30am to 5:00pm.

Question:  Will our onsite team be able to work during court holidays?

Response:  That is uncertain at this time.  Most likely not.

Question:  Beyond court documents; are there any other County document in scope at this time or envisioned in the future?

Response:  Wills.

Question:  Are you requiring the onsite vendor to pull and return the active case files from the shelfs?

Response:  No, Circuit Clerk staff will pull and return case files.

Question:  Will you be wanting the onsite vendor to scan the active files in case number order on your shelves or start scanning cases by court schedule dates first and then if time allows scan non court scheduled case files?

Response:  That is undetermined.

Question:  Are you requiring the vendors onsite scanning group to reassemble back onto the eco clips the case files after scanning? 

Response:  Yes.

Question:  Are you requiring our onsite employees manage, prepare, inventory and box up files that will be needing to be picked up for offsite scanning or will that be handled by Lake County employees?

Response:  That has yet to be determined.

Question:  For active and closed case files do judges write on the case jackets for cases such as CM or CF Case files and if so does the file folder need to be imaged?

Response:  That has yet to be determined.

Question:  The RFP states and documents will be indexed by “case number, case type, defendant (first and last name), plaintiff (first and last name), file date, and unique document id.”  Is “Case Type” redundant as the case type is part of the case number?  In Illinois County’s  case numbers are formatted as (Year)(Case Type DT in this example )(Case Number) i.e. 2019DT000001.

Response:  Yes, the case type is included in the case number.

Question:  If the “Case Type” field meant to be a “Document Type” in the question above, how many document types do you currently have and is the document type index carried into your CRIMS CMS system?

Response:  The number of document types is uncertain.  The document type is carried into the CRIMS system.

Question:  If documents need to be indexed by Document Type who is responsible for assigning document types to each document?  Will this be done by Lake county staff or is it the responsibility of the indexer to determine document types?

Response:  This has not been determined.

Question:  If each document in the case needs to be imaged individually AND indexed by document type how specific does the indexing need to be? 

Response:  Specific enough to identify the type of document.

Question:  If document type needs to be identified then can document types be indexed with a handful of generic doc types such as motion, notice, letter, order, or other as examples or indexed with specific document types for each document if available such as “Notice of Motion” rather than “Notice”? 

Response:  The document type should be identified, not simply a generic marker.

Question:  Will Lake County Circuit Clerks Office be able to provide index data from your current CRIMS?

Response:  Lake County can provide some data, but we have a record management system and it is an outdated COBOL system.

Question:  CMS system related to all of the index information required?

Response:  I do not understand the question.  We are in the process of the obtaining a new CMS system.  Those requirements are not yet available.

Question:  Are you requiring that the closed case files being scanned offsite be indexed exactly like the onsite scanning or can the files scanned be scanned in a bulk file format with all the documents as one PDF for each case file? 

Response:  That will depend on the file. 

Question:  Will you have instances of single image/s within a file will have one or more case numbers associated to it such as consolidated cases. 

Response:  That is possible.

Question:  Are all the documents currently being filed by the Tyler EFM being printed out and placed with the case file folders?

Response:  Yes, but those will not need to be re-scanned.

Question:  Are all or any of the images coming in the Tyler EFM being scanned or brought into the Alfresco document storage management system as PDF and TIFF?

Response:  The documents entered into our system through the Tyler EFM are being stored in Alfresco.

Question:  If so how long has the images been coming in the Tyler EFM being scanned or brought into the Alfresco document storage management system as PDF and TIFF?

Response:  68,000 documents a month.

For the scanning of the microfilm can you provide the format types of film for the rolls of film such as single level, two level (medium level image mark at each case number) and if the film is  and is simplex or duplex and if the film is 40X, 32X or 24 X film?   

Response:  The Oracle film I believe is single level and is simplex (1 image per frame). The Imagelink film I believe is dual level and is duplex (front and back of the document in each frame). Both the Oracle and Imagelink I believe is 40X.  

Question:  If you can-not provide this film type information listed above at this time will it be acceptable for the vendor able to break down our pricing based upon each potential format of film?

Response:  Yes.

Question:  Are you wanting the images scanned from closed case files to be indexed exactly in the same format as the open case files?

Response:  For most case types.

Question:  Are you wanting the images scanned from current microfilm to be indexed exactly in the same format as the open case files or the closed case files?

Response:  We are not certain, at this time, but not all case types.

Question:  You mention in the RFP “the goal of the Circuit Court Clerk is to be E- Record for all case types, except for traffic citations, with a paper on demand option within the next 5 years”. In your RFP, it mentioned that the program should be able to represent a paper on demand option.   Can you expound on what you are referring concerning paper on demand option?

Response:  We would like to be able to access the files from our office in the hosted environment upon need.

Question:  After scanning the Closed Case Files are you requiring the case files be reassembled and brought back to Lake County for File storage.

Response:  That depends on the case type, the status of the case, and the determination of the storage resources submitted.

Question:  In your RFP Records Storage section, you mentioned off-site storage for the Clerk’s documents.  Are you looking for the vendor to become the permeant records storage provider for Active and Closed case files or are your intentions to send only closed case files needing imaged within in an aggregable time frame, to scan case files and put onto image hosted system and Archive microfilm and then destroyed?

Response:  At this time, only closed files.

Question:  How many boxes and what size box need to be stored in off-site storage?

Response:  We are uncertain at this time, but it could range from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet of boxes.

Question:  Are your closed case files to be scanned, be destroyed after you receive authorization from AOIC’s office and if so how long after scanning are you requiring the vendor to store the closed case files after image and film conversion?

Response:  This has not been determined at this time as to the length of time they will have to be held in physical storage.  It is our intention that the physical files be destroyed at their appropriate time frames (ie Small Claims after 3 years).

Question:  If closed case files scanned off site are to be destroyed after authorization can we assume we would be allowed to cut the file folders, if they have writing on them, in order to get them through our scanners?

Response:  Yes.

Question:  It is mentioned that, Inventory Tracking system should be web enabled and accessed by Circuit Clerk users to get detailed report on records stored at vendor’s facility. Whether county expects Inventory Tracking system to be a separate system or can this be integrated to the Document Management Solution?

Response:  It could be integrated to a DMS, but that would be vendor’s DMS.   Lake County can not support the Inventory Tracking system at this time.

Question:  What are the activities expected to be performed by the Circuit Clerk users other than viewing the inventory report in the Inventory tracking System?

Response:  Uncertain, at this time.

Question:  It is mentioned that solution should have capability to redact words on a pdf or tiff document. Is this only required for images delivered to a portable hard drive or for images stored in Document Management Solution?

Response:  Both.

Question:  Apart from Search, retrieve and download case documents, what all additional functions Document management solution should provide to end users?

Response:  Be able to be exported to a CMS with a SASS solution.

Question:  It is mentioned that solution should work in conjunction with the E-File system. Does this mean that the civil cases filed through the E-file system which is already in electronic format needs to be brought to the Document Management Solution?

Response:  No.  We just need to be able to combine the documents of the case from both EFileIL solution and the digitized documents to the new CMS.

Question:  Can Lake County provide a copy of the form of contract to be used in the award of this contract?

Response:  The County will work with the awarded contractor to draft a contract.

Question:  It is mentioned that solution should have the barcoding functionality to capture and index images and document security indicators must be included. Can you please elaborate this requirement?

Response:  Your solution should describe how you would provide barcoding functionality to capture and index images and document security indicators.

4/15/2019

Question:  What is the average number of pages per document?

Response:  We have an average of 68 pages of documents in each file per case type.  For example, CH case type, one file, averages 68 pages within that file.

Question:  Does the County have an electronic file that contains the required index fields by case number that could be used?

Response:  We currently have a internal Record Management System and we are using e-File IL for our e-Filing needs.

Question:  What is the level of box and content inventory to aid in finding a requested file? Who is responsible to create the box content inventory?

Response:  We have an excel spreadsheet that we maintain in order to keep track of the files and the locations.

Question:  If a file or box is requested, can deliver be made electronically or must delivery be the physical paper?

Response:  Yes, in most circumstances it may be made electronically.  There are times we may need the physical file.

Question:  What is the expected completion date?

Response:  Approximately 3 years.

Question:  There are a couple of functionality requirements in the Scanning, Converting and Indexing section that look like they should be in the software functionality section…. Redaction ability of the words on a .pdf or .tiff document….. Ability to crop and straighten scanned documents. Please describe the software and technology used to address this…… Document security indicators must also be included. Are these requirements for the Software Solution?

Response:  The software solution we are seeking is how we will access the documents after the functionality requirements have been performed.

Question:  Are you looking for specifically Illinois local vendor?

Response:  No.

Question:  Could you be a little bit more specific on preparation? What are the exact preparations required for the documents that you are looking for?

Response: Proposers should describe your solution.

Question:  What are the conditions of the documents?

Response:  Varies.

Question:  Is there an approved budget? If so, what is the designated budget for this project?

Response:  The budget will not be approved until the contract has been obtained and presented to the board with an exact dollar figure.

Question:  Is this a new requirement? If no, then who is the current vendor?

Response:  This is a new requirement as to document back up of images to a pdf or tiff format.  The microfilm services are currently provided by Microsystems.  This is an annual contract, expiring December 1.

Question:  Will the very old documents [election records and birth/marriage records] need special care or are the old documents microfilmed.

Response:  Those documents are for the County Clerk.  This request is for the Circuit Clerk, therefore, we have Wills and Court Records to be scanned.  The older Wills and older case files may need special care. 

Question:  Will the microfilm conversion be using archival/original film or well used film?

Response:  Archival film.

Question:  What is the condition of the microfilm and microfiche? Has any deterioration been noticed?

Response:  There is some deterioration with the older film.  It has a red film on it, described to us as similar to a “rust.” 

Question:  Are there any Retention schedules?  If not, how will they be properly disposed of?

Response:  Yes, for all of the different case types.

Question:  Are you using any Document Management system?

Response:  Yes, Alfresco.   This only houses documents that have been entered through the Tyler e-Filing system since October 2017.  However, this DMS will be shut down when we obtain our new CMS in the next 2-3 years.  We will be in a SASS environment at that point.

Question:  How many users would access the DMS system?

Response:  Approximately 200.

Question:  Can you please inform us about the existing system? How are you managing the documents?

Response:  Currently documents for the criminal, mental health, and juvenile case types are in paper format.  All civil case types are paper through October 1, 2017 when we began e-Filing with Tyler Technologies.  We started transitioning into the eFfiling, and were live on all civil case types except Mental Health, on January 1, 2018.  We are still an official paper record keeper, all files are printed and held as paper for court.

Question:  Can we pick all the documents within single visit? if no, how many documents you will provide in each visit?

Response:  No, not all documents will be available to be picked up.  The documents will be sent out in sections, for example, by case type, by year, or by status (ie closed or pending).  I do not know the number of documents that may be sent out at each pick up.

Question:  What location(s) will the vendor need to pick up from and deliver to? How many locations?

Response:  Vernon Hills, IL Juvenile Court Complex and Waukegan, Lake County Courthouse.

Question:  Will the County require an index database file? In what format?

Response:  Please refer to the RFP.  We are seeking your explanation how you will index and format.

Question:  What indexing will be required? How many fields? How many characters per field?

Response:  Please see the response above.

Question:  Is there any specific time frame is the conversion to completed?

Response:  We would like to complete the conversion in 3 years.

4/8/2019

Question:  Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this?  

(like, from India or Canada)

Response:  This RFP is open for all vendors to respond to.

Question:  Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

Response:  Yes.

Question:  Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA?   

(like, from India or Canada)

Response:  If you can meet the specifications.

Question:  Can we submit the proposals via email?

Response:  No.