Q. What authority does the local Sheriff have on Corps land?
A. The Corps of Engineers obtained proprietary interest when it acquired land for the Civil Works installation. The individual states and their political subdivisions (Sheriff's Department) retained their statutory authority and inherent responsibility to enforce state and local laws. In short, Sheriffs can enforce any law on Corps property that can be enforced in their counties.
Q. Where does the funding come from to pay for the service contract law enforcement services?
A. Funding for law enforcement services come from Project O&M funds.
Q. How do I negotiate a bid price that is higher than the government estimate?
A. When you did the Government estimate, you would have taken into account all the information you could gather on what a fair price would be. If the Sheriff's bid worksheet is higher on a particular item than the Government estimate, you will need to talk to the Sheriff about that line item. Listen to how the Sheriff explains how he arrived at the bid price and see if something is brought up that you had not thought of that would influence the price. If there is not something that you forgot to consider, then explain to the Sheriff how you arrived at the Government's estimate. A simple example would be: The Sheriff's bid worksheet asks for 140 miles per day to be traveled but the Government estimate you came up with was 120 miles to be traveled a day. If you explain that the historical records of miles traveled per day was 120 and nothing new was added to the agreement to indicate that they should be increased, then the Sheriff will undoubtedly agree with your figure of 120 miles per day.
Q. Why do I have to use a contract instead of a cooperative agreement to pay for law enforcement services?
A. In 2005, HQUACE Office of the Chief Counsel was asked for the proper interpretation of 42 U.S.C. ยง 1962d-5d(a). That subsection provides as follows: "The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, is authorized to contract with States and their political subdivisions for the purpose of obtaining increased law enforcement services at
water resources development projects. Thorough review of the text of the statute and its legislative history revealed no clear evidence that Congress intended USACE to enter into assistance relationships to implement section 1962d-5d. The statute authorizes USACE to "contract with" state and local governments. The legislative history of section 1962d-5d reveals that the primary purpose of the statute was to enable the Corps "to obtain ...services necessary to protect visitors" to Corps projects.
