21.08.03.03

.03 Debarment of Persons for Cause from State Contracts.

A. A person may be debarred from entering into a contract with the State if that person or any of its officers, partners, controlling stockholders, principals, or other persons substantially involved in its contracting activities has been:

(1) Convicted under any state or federal law of a criminal offense, other than bribery, incident to obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a public or private contract;

(2) Convicted under any state or federal law of fraud, embezzlement, theft, forgery, falsification or destruction of records, or receiving stolen property;

(3) Convicted of a criminal violation of a state or federal antitrust statute;

(4) Convicted of a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, 18 U.S.C. §1961 et seq., or the Mail Fraud Act, 18 U.S.C. §1341 et seq., for acts in connection with the submission of bids or proposals for a public or private contract;

(5) Convicted under State Finance and Procurement Article, §14-308, Annotated Code of Maryland;

(6) Convicted under State Finance and Procurement Article, §11-205.1, Annotated Code of Maryland;

(7) Convicted of a conspiracy to commit any act or omission that would constitute grounds for conviction or liability under any law described in §A(1)—(6) of this regulation;

(8) Found civilly liable under state or federal antitrust statutes for acts or omissions in connection with the submission of bids or proposals for a public or private contract;

(9) Debarred from federal contracts under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as provided in 48 CFR Chapter 1, or Federal Executive Order 11246, as amended, due to discriminatory hiring practices in the State;

(10) Been found in a final adjudicated decision to have violated the Commercial Nondiscrimination Policy under State Finance and Procurement Article, Title 19, Annotated Code of Maryland, with regard to a public or private contract; or

(11) Been found to have willfully or knowingly violated State Government Article, Title 20, Subtitle 6, Annotated Code of Maryland, if the finding was made by a court and the decision of the court became final, or the finding was made in a contested case under the Administrative Procedure Act and the finding was not overturned on judicial review.

B. A person may be debarred from entering into a contract with the State if that person or any of its officers, partners, controlling stockholders, principals, or any other persons substantially involved in its contracting activities has admitted, in writing or under oath, acts or omissions that would constitute grounds for conviction or liability under any law described in §A of this regulation.

C. A person may be debarred from entering into a contract with the State if the Board finds:

(1) That the person was established or operates in a manner designed to evade the application of, or to defeat the purpose of, this subtitle;

(2) That the person is a successor, assignee, subsidiary, or affiliate of a suspended or debarred person;

(3) One of the following violations of a contract provision that is sufficiently serious to justify debarment:

(a) The deliberate failure without good cause to perform in accordance with the specifications or within the time provided in a contract; or

(b) The failure to perform or unsatisfactory performance in accordance with the terms of one or more contracts within the preceding 5 years unless the failure to perform or the unsatisfactory performance was caused by acts beyond the control of the person; or

(4) That the person persistently fails to meet contract goals in the absence of mitigating factors under the criteria established under State Finance and Procurement Article, §14-305(c)(2), Annotated Code of Maryland; debarment under this subsection shall be for a period not exceeding 3 years.

D. A person may be debarred for any other cause the Board determines to be so serious as to affect the integrity of the State procurement process, including, for example and not by limitation, the failure to file the debarment affidavit required by State Finance and Procurement Article, §16-311, Annotated Code of Maryland, and COMAR 21.05.08.07 and 21.07.01.25, or the filing of an untruthful affidavit.