1. (a)

   1. (1) If a procurement officer decides to conduct a pre-bid conference to explain the requirements of a procurement that is expected to exceed $100,000, as soon as practicable after the conference concludes, the procurement officer shall have written minutes of the conference prepared.
   2. (2) The minutes of a pre-bid conference are public records and shall be open to public inspection during ordinary business hours.

2. (b)

   1. (1) Subject to Title 4 of the General Provisions Article:

      1. (i) a summary of the final evaluation of a proposal shall be open to public inspection;
      2. (ii) after an award, all proposals shall be open to public inspection; and
      3. (iii) at and after bid opening, the contents of a bid and any document submitted with the bid shall be open to public inspection.
   2. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, Title 4 of the General Provisions Article shall govern any request for the disclosure of information related to a procurement.
3. (c) A procurement officer may deny public access to the advisory or deliberative records of an evaluator of a proposal if the records would not be available by law to a private party in litigation with the unit.

4. (d)

   1. (1) Before bid opening:

      1. (i) bids shall remain sealed; and
      2. (ii) the State may not disclose the name of a bidder.
   2. (2) Before the closing date for proposals, a procurement officer may not disclose the name of a person who has submitted a proposal.
   3. (3) Before awarding a procurement contract based on competitive sealed proposals, the State may not disclose the contents of a proposal to any person other than a person responsible for evaluating or reviewing the proposal.

5. (e) Subsections (b)(1), (c), and (d) of this section do not affect the authority of the Board of Contract Appeals or a court of competent jurisdiction to:

   1. (1) decide that information is discoverable in an administrative or judicial proceeding; and
   2. (2) compel disclosure.

Added by Acts 1988, c. 48, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 1988. Amended by Acts 1993, c. 505, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1993; Acts 2014, c. 45, § 5.