Jail Resident Commissary, Banking and Trust Services

The purpose of this document is to provide interested parties with information to enable them to prepare and submit a proposal for Resident Commissary and Resident Banking & Trust Services.  The County, as represented by the Sheriff’s Office, is particularly interested in proposals that facilitate ordering and processing commissary services that use the existing tablet technology service provider (currently Global Tel*Link Corporation dba ViaPath Technologies) to minimize staff involvement and provide robust resident banking and trust services. The County intends to use the results of this process to award one contract for these services.

The County intends to use the results of this process to award a contract or issue a purchase order for the product(s) and/or service(s) stated Jail Resident Commissary, Banking and Trust Services.

The contract resulting from this RFP will be administered by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office. The contract administrator will be the Dane County Sheriff’s Office Security Services Captain or designee.

The Dane County Purchasing Division is the sole point of contact for questions and issues that may arise during the RFP process.

Mandatory Vendor Conference (On-Site)

1. Because this contract will overlap with the Jail Consolidation Project, it is important that vendors understand the facility changes that will be occurring.
2. A mandatory Vendor Conference will be held to tour our facilities and will include the opportunity for vendors to ask additional questions.
3. All vendors who intend to respond to the RFP are required to attend the vendor conference. If a vendor fails to attend the conference and submits a proposal, the proposal will be rejected.
4. Every individual planning to attend the conference and site tours must complete and submit Attachment E - Vendor Conference Registration Form no later than Friday, April 3, 2026 at 4:00 pm (CST) (5 days prior to Vendor Conference).
   1. On the day of the vendor conference, each individual must have and provide a valid driver’s license or other officially-issued photo identification. 

• Date: Friday, April 10, 2026
• Time: 10:00 am (CST)
• Location: 115 W. Doty Street, Room 2002, Madison, WI 53703

Project Details

• Reference ID: 2026-RFP-035-PR
• Department: Sheriff
• Department Head: Kalvin Barrett (Sheriff)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-04-17T21:00:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-04-24T21:00:00.000Z
• Pre-Proposal Meeting: 2026-04-10T15:00:00.000Z — Public Safety Building Room 2002 115 W Doty Street Madison, WI 53703

Addenda

• Addendum #1 (released 2026-03-23T14:44:33.566Z) —

  The Attachment F - Cost Proposal document was revised to correct a few minor errors. The document was replaced with the updated document that includes "rev 3.23.26" in the filename. 

  Please utilize the updated/revised Attachment.

  Please use the See What Changed link to view all the changes made by this addendum.

• Official Notice #1: Required - Vendor Conference Registration Deadline Approaching (released 2026-04-01T13:04:04.144Z) —

  The deadline to complete and submit the vendor conference registration form (Attachment E) is fast approaching - Friday, April 3, 2026 at 4:00 pm (CST).  

  Every individual planning to attend the conference and site tour must complete and submit the form.

  All vendors who intend to respond to the RFP are required to attend the vendor conference.

• Addendum #2 (released 2026-04-17T20:44:10.776Z) —

  Adding Attachment G and Attachment H as support related to questions received and answers provided within the Q&A Portal. 

  Please use the See What Changed link to view all the changes made by this addendum.

• Official Notice #2: Vendor Conference Attendance (released 2026-04-17T20:46:51.141Z) —

  The following companies were in attendance at the mandatory Jail Resident Commissary, Banking and Trust Services vendor conference:

  • Stellar Services
  • Aramark
  • Keefe Group
  • Summit

Evaluation Criteria

• Overview & Organizational Capabilities (15 pts) —
  1. Overview
     1. Provide a one page overview of the firm’s interest in providing commissary and resident banking and trust account management services to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.
  2. Experience
     1. Describe the firm’s experience and capabilities in providing similar services to those required. 
        1. Be specific and identify projects, dates, and results.
        2. Include experience working with a community or government outreach/public agency aimed at enhancing the lives of the constituents and experience with County, non-profit, and local agencies in relation to project management and coordination of marketing events and other duties described above.
  3. Staff Organization
     1. Provide a list of all individuals with job titles who would be assigned to the project and include their anticipated general responsibilities for the project.
     2. A security clearance will be required for any employee needing access into the Dane County Jail. All personnel that will be onsite will be required to complete a release form for this purpose. The signed release must be provided two weeks prior to commencement of any activity, and during the contract prior to any new employees being hired to do work at the aforementioned facilities. All employees will have uniforms and/or proper visible identification while working inside and outside of County buildings. Entrance to all jail facilities will require an escort.
  4. Implementation Timeline
     1. Provide a thorough timeline for implementation and set up of the services. 
• Requirements - Commissary Services (20 pts) —
  • Section 4.5 - Requirements - Commissary Services - General
  • Section 4.6 - Requirements - Commissary Services - Product Specifications
  • Section 4.7 - Requirements - Commissary Services - Operations
  • Section 4.8 - Requirements - Commissary Services - Personnel, Employment Practices & Staffing
  1. General
     1. Provide a narrative regarding how the Vendor will comply with the requirements stated in the above sections.
     2. Provide a narrative about any other relevant commissary offerings that the County may wish to consider.
  2. Resident Ordering & Staff Workload: 
     1. Describe your commissary ordering solution(s) and the end-to-end workflow from resident ordering through delivery.
     2. Specifically identify what Sheriff’s Office staff must do versus what vendor staff/system handles.
     3. Describe your operational model for weekly pre-order fulfillment with no short/back orders and no unapproved substitutions, including inventory practices and delivery verification.
  3. Restrictions & Eligibility Controls: 
     1. How does your platform restrict or prevent commissary purchases based on security status, housing/unit rules, medical/dietary needs, and item limits (e.g., stamp limits)?
     2. Describe how restrictions are applied and enforced at the time orders are finalized.
  4. Menus, Pricing, and Change Management: 
     1. Describe how menus, item approvals (including packaging restrictions such as no metal/glass), and pricing are managed, including the process for County approval, resident notification.
     2. Use the Cost Proposal Attachment to identify which items are available and not available.
        1. The number of items available will be taken into consideration during the evaluation phase. The number of items available will be determined using the cost proposal attachment where item availability is identified by each vendor. 
  5. Vendor Accountability & Staffing: 
     1. Describe your staffing and support model, including on-site delivery staffing levels.
     2. Describe how resident grievances are handled with written responses provided to the Sheriff’s Office within required timelines.
• Requirements - Resident Banking & Trust Services (20 pts) —
  • Section 4.9 - Requirements - Resident Banking & Trust Account Services - General
  • Section 4.10 - Requirements - Resident Banking & Trust Account Services - Software Attributes
  • Section 4.11 - Requirements - Resident Banking & Trust Account Services - Booking Kiosks
  • Section 4.12 - Requirements - Resident Banking & Trust Account Services - Release Debit Cards
  • Section 4.13 - Requirements - Resident Banking & Trust Account Services - Lobby Kiosks
  1. General
     1. Provide a narrative regarding how the Vendor will comply with the requirements stated in the above sections.
     2. Provide a narrative about any other relevant resident banking and trust accounting offerings that the County may wish to consider.
  2. End-to-end Trust Accounting Capability
     1. Describe how your trust accounting system supports the full resident lifecycle 
        1. Booking/open account → deposits → commissary activity → debts/holds → releases at discharge/transfer → reconciliation and reporting.
        2. Identify what tasks are done by jail staff vs automated by the system.
  3. Access, Roles, and County Control (No Vendor Dependence)
     1. Describe how authorized County staff can create unlimited users, set role/group-based access, and manage permissions without vendor assistance.
     2. Provide examples of how permissions would be set for booking staff, supervisors, accounting, and audit-only users.
     3. Transactions cannot be manipulated to ensure a clear financial record. 
  4. Core Financial Functions: Deposits, Debts, Holds, and Scheduled Payments
     1. Describe the functionality for:
        1. Automatically deducting a portion of deposits to satisfy debts
        2. Creating/voiding/writing off debts (including refund of all collections when voided)
        3. Holds that restrict spending and can auto-release after X days
        4. Recurring transactions and scheduled payments (daily/weekly/monthly)
        5. Include how staff performs these actions and what audit trail is retained.
  5. Release of Resident Funds (Cash/Check/Debit Card)
     1. Describe how the system handles release of funds with minimal staff effort, including:
        1. Cash, check, and debit card release options (including split releases)
        2. Group releases for transfers (single check)
        3. Check printing from the system (with signatures printed)
        4. Electronic signature capabilities (where used)
  6. Release Debit Card Functionality & Resident Fee Requirements
     1. Describe your release debit card process at discharge, including:
        1. Swipe-to-load workflow with vendor-provided encrypted readers (no redundant data entry)
        2. Confirmation that cards require no resident activation
        3. Confirmation that residents are not charged a debit card service fee for at least 72 hours after release
        4. How the system automatically creates ACH entries to support monthly reconciliation
  7. Kiosks: Booking Area Cash-Accepting (Bills + Coins)
     1. Describe your booking kiosk functionality and operational workflow:
        1. Accepts both bills and coins
        2. Does not require direct network access (confirm)
        3. Staff cash removal procedures and what reconciliation reports/support the kiosk provides
        4. How kiosk transactions post to the correct resident account and appear in audit/reports
  8. Kiosks: Lobby Kiosks for Friends/Family (Cash + Card + Bail)
     1. Describe the two lobby kiosks and their capabilities:
        1. Cash deposits and credit/debit deposits to resident accounts
        2. Cash bail payments with no fee
        3. Receipts for each transaction
        4. How you will provide proof of PCI compliance
     2. How disputes/chargebacks (if applicable) are handled operationally
  9. Reporting, Exports, and Month-End Reconciliation
     1. Describe your reporting and reconciliation features, including:
        1. Predefined reports (trial balance, receipts/disbursements, debt, indigent, commissary totals/sales, check register, reconciliation, etc.)
        2. Export formats (PDF/RTF/Excel) and whether exports can be configured to work cleanly in Excel
        3. Bank statement import and automated monthly reconciliation
        4. Positive Pay support for check information
  10. Controls, Audit Trail, and Exception Handling
      1. Describe how the system supports:
         1. Easy voiding of transactions by authorized users with a verifiable audit trail
         2. Cash drawer balancing
         3. OMR rejection rules for restrictions/privileges/balance
         4. Indigent tracking (user-defined rules based on balance, days since booking, deposits/commissary over time)
         5. Commissary purchase restrictions (by balance, housing, product groups, patterns; dietary/religious/behavioral/day-of-week restrictions)
• Requirements - Accounting & Payment (15 pts) —

  Section 4.14 - Requirements - Accounting & Payment

  1. General
     1. Provide a narrative regarding how the Vendor will comply with each of the section requirements. 
     2. Provide a narrative about any other relevant accounting and payment offerings that the County may wish to consider.
  2. Audit trail detail and traceability
     1. Provide a description (and sample) of your system’s audit trail reporting, including how it captures operator ID, date/time of entries, and updates/edits to records on every transaction.
     2. How are voids/corrections handled and displayed for audit purposes?
  3. County-required reporting package
     1. Confirm your ability to provide County-specified reports, including at minimum detailed weekly invoices, cash reconciliation, and records of charges to residents for other services. Provide sample report formats and describe how frequently they can be produced and in what formats (e.g., PDF/Excel).
  4. Weekly invoicing tied to County sales records
     1. Describe how you will generate weekly invoices for commissary service sales, and how you will ensure that Sheriff’s Office sales records are the determining basis for each invoice.
     2. What is your process for resolving discrepancies between vendor records and County records?
  5. Sales tax handling (tax included in price) and supporting evidence
     1. Describe how you calculate and report sales tax when prices include sales tax (including the County’s stated method of dividing gross receipts by 1.055).
     2. Confirm you will:
        1. Post the required “All Prices Include Sales Tax” signage and
        2. Include the same statement on printed/electronic menus. 
  6. Audit/access rights and inspection responsiveness
     1. Describe how the County and its authorized representatives will be granted prompt access to electronic books, documents, financial transactions, reports, and records related to County funds and activities.
     2. What is your standard turnaround time for providing requested documentation?
  7. Record retention and availability
     1. Confirm you will retain complete commissary financial records and statements in a safe place for eight (8) years from the close of each term/year
     2. Describe how records can be retrieved and produced upon request (including older years).
     3. Perform regular backups of electronic financial records. 
  8. Confidentiality of resident and County information
     1. Describe your confidentiality practices to ensure resident names/information and County-related financial information are not disclosed to any third party without written County consent—including in any collections or dispute context.
     2. What policies/training enforce this?
• Software Solution (10 pts) —
  1. Platform Process and Features
     1. Provide an overview of the software solution available. 
     2. Provide a list of which modules/features are native to the platform versus add-ons, partner products, or separate applications?
     3. Describe the typical end-to-end workflow of the platform. 
     4. What parts of the platform can County staff configure (forms, fields, workflows, reports, etc.) without vendor involvement?
     5. Confirm that the software solution will satisfy all software related requirements outlined in the Scope of Work sections. 
        1. If there are deviations or any requirements that are not satisfied, list them out and provide a detailed explanation. 
  2. Support
     1. Describe the standard support hours, response time and escalation options?
     2. Is there a dedicated account manager or customer success support?
  3. Training
     1. Is training included in the implementation of the software?
        1. Outline what training entails.
  4. Reporting & Dashboard
     1. Provide an overview of the reporting and dashboard capabilities. 
        1. Include screenshots or samples. 

  NOTE: A demo of the software platform may be required as part of the evaluation phase.

• Cost (20 pts) —

  Complete Attachment F - Cost Proposal and upload within the Vendor Questionnaire under Section 1.4 RFP Cost Proposal Document - Upload.

  Items and pricing that will be considered include:

  1. Monthly administrative fee payment compliance (no commissions)
     1. Confirmation you will not charge commissions under this contract.
     2. Confirmation you will agree to the administrative fees outlined within the Cost Proposal attachment for all corresponding terms.
  2. Menu Item Costs
  3. Lobby Kiosk Deposits
     1. Cash Deposits
     2. Credit/Debit Card Deposits
  4. Web Deposits
     1. Credit/Debit Card Deposits
  5. Debit Phone Time Purchases
  6. Resident Debit Cards
  7. Bonds
• Local Vendor Preference (5 pts)

Submission Requirements

• RFP DOCUMENT UPLOADS
• Single Proposal Submission (required) —

  Only 1 proposal is allowed to be submitted per Vendor Account. This means if you are submitting multiple proposals, you must follow the instructions set forth within the Section 2.2 RFP Guidelines and Overview - Multiple Proposals & Acceptance. 

  It is understood that if multiple proposals are uploaded using 1 vendor account, the entire submission will be subject to disqualification. 

• RFP Response Document - Upload your Proposal (required) —

  Please DO NOT include Cost information in this section.

• RFP Response - Supplemental Document Upload —

  Upload any additional or required information documents that supplements this solicitation.

• RFP Cost Proposal Document - Upload Cost Proposal (required) —

  Document must be a MS Excel file (no PDFs). 

  Pricing shall be inclusive of all labor, delivery costs and other expenses necessary to provide product in accordance with the specifications and terms and conditions of this bid document and your proposal.

• RFP Cost Proposal - Supplemental Document Upload —

  If applicable, upload any documents providing further clarification of the submitted pricing from the Pricing Table. This is not required.

• W9 Upload (required) —

  Upload your company's W9 form.

  NOTE: The W9 is required to be signed within the past 12 months

• VENDOR INFORMATION
• Local Vendor Preference (required) —

  Select a Local Vendor Preference:

  Vendors located within Dane County automatically receive five points toward the evaluation score.

  Vendors located within the counties adjacent to Dane County (Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, Sauk) automatically receive two points toward the evaluation score.

  Vendors located outside of Dane County and the 7 counties adjacent to Dane County would choose "No Preference".

  NOTE: A post office box address does not qualify as an established place of business.

• Fair Labor Practice Certification (required) —

  Has your company been found by the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") or the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission ("WERC") to have violated any statute or regulation regarding labor standards or relations in the seven years prior to the date this bid submission is signed?
  
  If yes is answered, a copy of any relevant information regarding such violation is required to be uploaded with your bid submission.

  Additional information about the NLRB and WERC can be found using the following links:
  www.nlrb.gov and http://werc.wi.gov.

• Cooperative Purchasing (required) —

  Reference Guidelines - Section F.

  Does your company agree to furnish the commodities or services of this bid to municipalities and state agencies?

• Designation of Confidential and Proprietary Information (required) —

  Please specify what information you wish to designate as confidential and proprietary. Please identify section/ pages/ topic /documents, etc.

  NOTE: Pricing sections cannot be designated as confidential and proprietary.

  If nothing will be designated, simply type "None" in the section below.

• Did you attend the mandatory vendor conference? (required)
• Did you attend the mandatory vendor conference? (required)
• RFP ADDENDA
• I understand that if any addendum is issued I will have to acknowledge the posted addendum. (required)
• If an addendum is posted after I have submitted my proposal response and the resulting addendum requires action to be taken either in the Specification Section or Pricing Section, I understand that: (required) —

  1. I will have to unsubmit my proposal response.

  2. I will have to acknowledge the posted addendum.

  3. I will have to take action in responding to the changes on either the Specification Section or Pricing Section.

  4. I will then have to resubmit my proposal response.

  Further instructions on addendum(a) postings can be found here.

• SIGNATURE DECLARATION
• RFP Solicitation Response Declaration (required) —

  In submitting and confirming this solicitation response, we certify that we have not, either directly or indirectly, entered into any agreement or participated in any collusion or otherwise taken any action in restraint of free competition; that no attempt has been made to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a solicitation response; that this solicitation response has been independently arrived at without collusion with any other vendor competitor or potential competitor; that this solicitation response has not been knowingly disclosed prior to the opening of bids to any other vendor or competitor; that the above statement is accurate under penalty of perjury.

  Further, by submitting this solicitation response, firm agrees with all the terms, conditions, and specifications required by the County in this solicitation and declares that the corresponding solicitation response and pricing are in conformity therewith.

  I have read and understood the entire document.

  I declare under penalty of false swearing under the law of Wisconsin that the foregoing is true and correct.

• Signed on: (required) —

  Write in month, day, year and city/state in which the submission occurred.
  Example: June 27, 2025 in Madison, WI

• Electronically signed by: (required) —

  Provide First Name, Last Name and Title

• What is the MUNIS ORG & OBJECT code and available funds for this project? (required)
• Purchase Description
• How soon do you desire to OBTAIN the requested products/services? —

  Enter a specific date

  Figure 2 months minimum for RFB,

  Figure 6 month minimum for RFP from posting date

• Do you need this solicitation posted sooner than three weeks from now? —

  The typical lead time from intake to solicitation posting is 3-6 weeks depending on whether it's an RFP or RFB and complexity of the solicitation.

• Justification for Rush Request —

  Please provide desired posting date and justification for rush request

• What is the anticipated cost for this solicitation? (All Applicable Terms Combined)
• Via contract or a bid, is there an existing vendor currently providing these goods/services?
• Please state the current Contract # or Bid #:
• Is a vendor conference desired for this project? —

  NOTE: All vendor conferences are defaulted to begin at 10:00 am. Select dates that you and other staff are available at 10:00 am.

• (Yes - Mandatory on Site) List all dates that necessary staff are available to host the vendor conference:
• (Yes - Mandatory on Site) Provide address for vendor conference: —

  Include any other specific details such as Room #, directions, etc.

• (Yes - Optional on Site) Provide address for vendor conference: —

  Include any other specific details such as Room #, directions, etc.

• (Yes - Optional on Site) List all dates that necessary staff are available to host the vendor conference:
• (Yes - Mandatory Virtual) List all dates that necessary staff are available to host the vendor conference:
• (Yes - Optional Virtual) List all dates that necessary staff are available to host the vendor conference:
• Who will be evaluating this solicitation? —
  • If this is an RFB, provide name of one evaluator
  • If this is an RFP, provide names of three evaluators minimum. If evaluator is outside of the County, provide email address also.
• Pricing table required? —

  Always select "Yes" unless this is a Highway WisDot Design Project

• External Pricing Document?* —

  Is an external pricing document being used?

Questions & Answers