(a) The State Highway Commission may after thirty (30) days’ notice debar a contractor and/or its affiliates from bidding on commission contracts for any of the following reasons:

1. (1) Conviction of a contractor or affiliates of a bidding crime resulting from a jury or bench trial, any plea of guilty or nolo contendere by a contractor or affiliate, any admission of conduct constituting a bidding crime by a contractor or affiliate, any testimony, whether or not protected by a grant of immunity, in any jurisdiction, to conduct constituting a bidding crime;
2. (2) Conviction of any offences indicating a lack of moral or ethical integrity as may reasonably be perceived to relate to, or reflect upon, the business practices of the company;
3. (3) Any other cause affecting responsibility as a commission contractor of a serious and compelling nature;

4. (4)

   1. (A) Debarment by some other state or federal agency for substantially any of the reasons listed above.
   2. (B) Debarment for this reason will be for the duration of the original debarment; or
5. (5) Participation in any conduct which has the effect of evading or undermining the sanctions imposed on a suspended or debarred contractor.

(b)

1. (1)

   1. (A) If the contractor or affiliate has not been subject to a prior suspension and therefore has not received notice under 27 CAR § 96-103(b), the contractor or affiliate will be notified in writing of such pending debarment.
   2. (B) Such notice will be by registered mail and shall include the general reasons necessitating the debarment as well as notifying the contractor or affiliate of a cut-off date for the development of the administrative record by the assigned hearing officer.
   3. (C) Within ten (10) days of the receipt of the notice, the contractor or affiliate may also request a hearing at which time the contractor or affiliate can challenge the factual or legal predicate of the debarment or present any evidence pertinent to the debarment.

2. (2)

   1. (A) The hearing officer shall be appointed by the Director of State Highways and Transportation.
   2. (B) The hearing, if requested, will be held in accordance with the requirements for administrative adjudications under the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, Arkansas Code § 25-15-201 et seq.

3. (3)

   1. (A) The decision of the hearing officer will be final and will be effective when rendered.
   2. (B) The commission shall review the decision of the hearing officer based upon the record developed at the administrative hearing at its next regular meeting after the decision becomes effective.

(d)

1. (1) At the discretion of the commission, a debarment may be lifted or suspended at any time if it is in the public interest to do so.

2. (2) Any mitigating circumstances may be considered in the decision to impose or lift or suspend debarment and may include, but shall not be limited to:

   1. (A) The degree of culpability of the contractor or affiliate;
   2. (B) Whether under the facts and circumstances of the case a lengthy debarment will serve as a protection to the state;
   3. (C) Restitution by the debarred contractor or affiliate to the state for any perceived overcharges or other damages resulting from a bidding crime;
   4. (D) Cooperation by the debarred contractor or affiliate with the state and the United States and/or other sovereign body in the investigation of bidding crimes, including a full and complete account of the contractor's or affiliate's particular involvement therein; and
   5. (E) Disassociation with individuals and firms that have been involved in a bidding crime.

(e)

1. (1) The commission recognizes that the passage of time alone may not necessarily cure a contractor’s lack of responsibility.
2. (2) Accordingly, the commission, in its discretion, may direct the director to appoint a hearing officer and to hold a hearing no later than fifteen (15) days prior to the last day of the term of the debarment and require the contractor to show cause why the debarment should not continue.
3. (3) Upon the report of the hearing officer, the commission may, in its sole discretion, determine that the contractor has failed to demonstrate that he or she meets the standard of a responsible bidder, then the commission may continue the debarment for up to twelve (12) additional months.

4. (4)

   1. (A) The same show cause requirement of this section shall apply to the added period of debarment and should the commission determine another hearing is necessary, and the contractor at the next hearing fails to demonstrate to the sole satisfaction of the commission that he or she meets the standard of responsibility, another period of up to twelve (12) months debarment may be imposed by the commission.
   2. (B) The same procedures and provisions shall continue for each successive extension of the original debarment until such a time as the commission has determined the contractor meets the criteria of a responsible bidder.