Description
Introduction
The City of South Haven seeks a qualified attorney or law firm to provide prosecutorial services to the City. Proposals are sought from responsible and established licensed attorneys known to be experienced in prosecuting misdemeanor crimes, municipal code violations, and zoning enforcement while being in good standing with the State Bar of Michigan. Satisfactory evidence that the individual or firm has the necessary capital, equipment, personnel, experience, etc. to perform this service may be required. The City of South Haven encompasses 3.5 square miles but also provides police services to the South Haven Charter Township.
Scope of Work
The selected Firm is expected to perform the following tasks, which in their entirety will fulfill the Services requested:
- Represent the City in the prosecution of all criminal local misdemeanor violations, including civil traffic infractions authorized under the Motor Vehicle Code, and Zoning ordinance violations, as required.
- Review local ordinance violation cases filed by the South Haven Police Department:
- Make charging decisions.
- Advise victims regarding their rights and responsibilities.
- Communicate with witnesses.
- Prepare local ordinance violation cases for prosecution, including, but not limited to: Create and maintain case files.
- Complete legal research.
- Have knowledge of local ordinances, including case law changes and statutory changes.
- Prepare and present legal memorandums and other documents for court cases and trials.
- Process discovery and records disclosure requests.
- Prepare subpoenas and other related documents in a timely manner.
- Lead victims/witnesses through the court process.
- Provide jury instructions.
- Handle enforcement issues.
- Make case decisions.
- Provide appropriate sentencing recommendations.
- Responsible for all aspects of prosecution of local municipal code and zoning ordinance violations, which may include, but is not limited to the following:
- Review of police reports for authorization of criminal ordinance violations.
- Engage in effective communication through established procedures with police officers, detectives, code enforcement staff, other City and County prosecutors, 7th District West Court staff, and 36th Circuit Court staff.
- Review of building department records for new or ongoing blight enforcement.
- Management of the following:
- Investigations
- Seizures
- Pretrial hearings
- Bench and jury trials
- Hearings
- Motions
- Appeals
- Other hearings
- Annually, prepare and lead training sessions for law enforcement and code enforcement staff in ordinance/law updates, amendments, and targeted training to correct procedural issues, upon request by the City Manager.
Specifications
- The City of South Haven Police Department currently employs sixteen full-time Officers including 2 detectives. The City also employs one full-time Zoning Code Enforcement Officer, one full-time Short-Term Rental Coordinator/Code Enforcement Officer and hires up to 8 seasonal Code Enforcement Officers. Both the Police Department and Building Department actively pursues all criminal and zoning matters. The Police Department and Code Enforcement wrote over 800 civil infractions and forwarded over 150 ordinance cases for prosecution at 7th District Court.
- The individual attorney or law firm providing this service will work closely with city officers, detectives, and code enforcement staff and will keep City Manager apprised of case status upon request.
- The selected attorney or firm shall not assign, subcontract, or otherwise transfer its duties and/or obligations under the contract, without the prior written consent of the City. Such consent does not release the selected attorney or firm of their obligations and responsibilities under the contract. Violations of this specification shall result in instant cancellation, and termination of the contract.
- The selected attorney or firm will submit monthly invoices to the City with sufficient explanation and detail as to the amount of time working on City prosecution matters during the preceding month. Any expenses proposed for reimbursement shall be separately itemized.
- The City does not consider drive time as billable hours but will reimburse for reasonable mileage expenses incurred while working on the City’s behalf.
- The City Attorney must be readily available by phone, cell phone, and e-mail.
- Timeliness of response and accessibility to the selected attorney or firm is an important aspect of services provided. Accessibility and responsiveness of selected attorney or firm is of greatest importance, although consideration will also be given to access to assistant attorney(s) as well. Accessibility includes the ability to be generally available to attend meetings in person on short notice and the ability to be reached promptly by telephone or e-mail.
- The selected attorney or firm must prioritize the workload so that City matters are completed in a timely manner.
Statement of Qualifications
Attorneys or firms wishing to submit proposals should meet the following minimum requirements and provide a statement indicating how they satisfy these requirements:
- Must be licensed Attorney in the State of Michigan, admitted to and remain an active member in good standing of the State Bar of Michigan.
- Must pass Michigan Criminal Justice Information Network (MICJIN) courses for security awareness training.
- Apply for an ORI from NCIC allowing LEIN access and review.
Proposal
Please provide a written proposal responding to each inquiry in the order below, sealed in an envelope and marked “PROSECUTING ATTORNEY SERVICES PROPOSAL.” on the outside of the envelope.
- Statement of Qualifications (as described above)
- Firm Experience
- Provide a narrative description of the firm.
- Describe the general experience of the firm.
- Identify three other municipal clients as references (providing name and contact information).
- Identify experience with municipal criminal prosecution, municipal code enforcement, and zoning enforcement.
- Provide evidence of comprehensive liability and workers compensation insurance coverage for all firm staff assigned to work with the City.
- Disclose any Bar Association complaints filed against the firm within the last five years.
- Disclose any termination(s) of the firm by municipal clients and any bankruptcy, reorganization or receivership claims within the last five years.
- Proposed Attorney(s) and other members of the legal team (paralegals, administrative assistants, etc.)
- Name and description of the attorney(s) and/or team proposed. Clearly identify the lead attorney and name assisting attorney(s), if any.
- Provide a resume or similar description for each team member, with considerable detail as to the experience and qualifications of the lead attorney and any significant assisting attorney(s).
- Specify the organizational structure applicable to this contract, including who the lead attorney is, and the relationship of any assisting attorney(s).
- Disclose any clients or interests that may reasonably be foreseen to constitute a conflict of interest when prosecuting on behalf of the City (such as, previous criminal defense work, number of criminal defense clients represented in Van Buren County, ongoing criminal defense work in Van Buren County, etc.).
- Accessibility and Responsiveness
- Identify a primary contact, who will be responsible for setting strategy and coordinating the selected attorney or firm’s actions. The City expects the contact to be readily available to City staff. The primary contact shall not change without the prior approval of the City.
- The selected attorney or firm will interact with police officers, detectives, and code enforcement officers on an ongoing basis. The selected attorney or firm will also be in close communication with the Criminal and Traffic divisions of 7th District West Court.
- The selected attorney or firm will interact with Code Enforcement and Building Department staff regarding blight or other zoning enforcement actions at 30th Circuit Court of Van Buren County.
- The City intends that the selected attorney or firm chosen will encounter minimal conflicts of interest. Where a conflict does arise, the selected attorney or firm is to notify the City Manager, who will appoint an independent selected attorney or firm to handle the issue. The occurrence of an inordinate number of conflicts may be grounds to terminate the relationship.
- Proposed Fee Structure and Bid Options
The selected firm or attorney will provide prosecuting attorney legal services on behalf of the City as described in this solicitation for proposals. The City of South Haven reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, waive irregularities, and to accept the bids that is in the best interest of the City.
Attorneys/firms are asked to propose a compensation package, inclusive of all service costs according to the options described below. The City is open to a variety of approaches, including hourly rates or a flat monthly fee, with add-ons and an annual “true-up” provision, where actual hours worked are compared to those paid and adjustments in the next year are made accordingly. The City will select its preferred prosecution services provider, in part, by considering the proposed compensation as a “best and final offer,” although the City reserves the right to negotiate terms as needed to improve elements of the proposal to best meet the needs of the City, including cost. The City further reserves its right to select the firm with prosecution services that best meets the needs of the City in the sole judgment of the City and selection will be based on experience, qualifications, and/or economic benefit to the City. This selection will most likely not be based solely on cost.
Evaluation
Proposals will primarily be evaluated on the basis of demonstrated capabilities and experience, qualifications and availability of the selected attorney or firm and the firm’s primary contact, understanding of the tasks described in the Scope of Services, and competitiveness of proposed fees.
The City reserves the right to accept or reject any and/or all proposals, to waive any formalities or any irregularities in proposals received, and to award (or not to award at all) the contract in any manner deemed to be in the best interests of the City. The City further reserves the right to award this contract to other than the lowest bidder if, in the sole opinion of the City, such action represents the best value.
Contract
As an example of work to be performed as City Attorney, firms or attorneys should draft a contract that would govern the relationship between the firm/attorney and the City.
Submission
The entire proposal and other components requested in this document should be received by March 14, 2025, by 4:00 p.m. at the South Haven City Manager’s Office.
Documents can be mailed or hand-delivered to:
City of South Haven
c/o Kate Hosier, City Manager
539 Phoenix Street
South Haven, MI 49090
Submissions should be contained in a sealed package or envelope. The exterior of the package or envelope should clearly be labeled PROSECUTING ATTORNEY SERVICES PROPOSAL.