Can a Tennessee county sheriff's office and a school board pool their food orders into one larger bid to get better prices?

Subject

Opinion No. 15-31, Local Agencies Combining Procurement Bids, April 2, 2015

Plain-English summary

A state senator asked whether a local sheriff's office and a school board could pool their food orders into a single procurement to take advantage of bulk pricing. The AG said yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203 authorizes "any municipality, county, utility district, or other local governmental unit of the state" to make purchases on behalf of another local governmental unit, either by request (§ 12-3-1203(a)) or by piggybacking on another local unit's existing contracts and price agreements (§ 12-3-1203(c)(1)). Both a sheriff's office and a local school board are local governmental units within these provisions, and food supplies fall within "supplies, equipment, and services."

There is one carve-out worth noting. Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203(b) is a more specific rule for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) buying equipment: an LEA can piggyback on equipment contracts only when those contracts were initiated by another LEA. That limit applies to equipment, not food. The standard rule for general statutory construction is that a specific provision controls over a general one (Keough v. State, 356 S.W.3d 366, 371 (Tenn. 2011)). So an LEA buying equipment is more limited than an LEA buying food; on food, the general cooperative-purchasing authority remains.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's cooperative-purchasing statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203, sits inside the broader Title 12 framework governing public contracts and procurement. Subsection (a) lets one local government unit purchase supplies, equipment, and services for another, upon request, subject to procedural requirements in (a)(1)-(a)(3). Subsection (c)(1) lets one local government unit buy under contracts or price agreements entered into by another, subject to conditions in (c)(1), and with exceptions for motor vehicle purchases and transportation infrastructure procurement.

LEAs are defined in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-103(2) to include county and city school systems and special school districts. Local boards of education are the governing bodies (§ 49-1-103(1)).

The AG noted that subsection (b) of § 12-3-1203 sets a tighter rule for LEAs buying equipment, limiting LEAs to piggybacking on equipment contracts that were themselves let by another LEA. That tightening reflects, perhaps, concerns about standardizing equipment specifications across school systems. Food procurement does not face that restriction; the broader subsections (a) and (c) govern.

Common questions

Why is bulk procurement attractive?
Larger order volume can produce per-unit price reductions. For local governments running on tight budgets, even modest unit-cost savings add up across a fiscal year. Cooperative procurement also reduces administrative duplication: one bid solicitation instead of two.

Does either agency need to be the "lead" unit?
The statute contemplates both models. Under subsection (a), one unit can purchase for another upon request (so one agency runs the bid and the other pays its share). Under subsection (c)(1), each unit can piggyback on an existing contract initiated by another unit (so the school board could buy under a contract the county let last year). Either approach works for food.

What about equipment, like commercial kitchen equipment?
The narrower rule in § 12-3-1203(b) applies to LEAs buying equipment. The school board can piggyback on equipment contracts initiated by another LEA, but not on contracts initiated by, say, the sheriff's office. For food and services, the broader rule applies.

Are there carve-outs for specific items?
Yes. Subsection (c)(1) excludes motor vehicle purchases (with some exceptions) and transportation infrastructure project purchases. Always check the current statute for the exact list.

Citations

Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203 (cooperative purchasing authority); Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-103 (definitions of LEA and local board of education); Keough v. State, 356 S.W.3d 366 (Tenn. 2011) (specific provision controls general).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2015/op15-31.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
April 2, 2015
Opinion No. 15-31

Local Agencies Combining Procurement Bids

Question

Is it possible for a local sheriff's office and a school board to combine their food procurement bids in order to take advantage of the higher total purchase amount so that both local governmental entities save money?

Opinion

Yes.

ANALYSIS

Tennessee Code Annotated § 12-3-1203 authorizes local governmental units, with certain limitations, to make purchases for other local governmental units (1) when there is a request for such a purchase, or (2) when such a purchase is made under existing contractual arrangements entered into by another local governmental unit purchaser.

Specifically, Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203(a) (emphasis added) provides in part: "Any municipality, county, utility district, or other local governmental unit of the state may, upon request, purchase supplies, equipment, and services for any other municipality, county, utility district, or other local government unit." Subsections (a)(1) through (a)(3) set out some requirements and limitations that apply or might apply when such a request is made and purchases are made by request.

And Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203(c)(1) (emphasis added) provides in part: "Any municipality, county, utility district, or other local governmental unit of this state may purchase supplies, goods, equipment, and services under contracts or price agreements entered into by any other local governmental unit of this state." Subsection (c)(1) also specifies some conditions and requirements that apply or might apply when joint purchases are made under such a contract. Subsection (c)(1) does not apply to purchases of motor vehicles (with some exceptions) and does not apply to purchases related to any transportation infrastructure project. Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203(c)(1).

A local sheriff's office and a board of education are both "local governmental units" falling within the provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203. Purchasing food supplies and receiving bids from suppliers of foodstuffs also fall within these provisions. Accordingly, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 12-3-1203(a) and (c)(1) provide authority for combining bidding and procurement of food supplies by a local sheriff's office and a local school board.

It should be noted that Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203(b) contains special provisions for equipment purchases by local education agencies (LEAs). The terms "local education agency" and "local board of education" are defined in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-103. A local board of education is the board of education that manages and controls the respective local public school system. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-103(1). A local education agency includes a county or city school system, a special school district, and other local public school system or district created by the general assembly. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-103(2).

Subsection (b) specifies that an LEA may purchase equipment under the same terms of a legal bid or contract initiated by any other LEA. Subsection (b) of the statute, therefore, expressly limits purchases of equipment by an LEA to only equipment contracts procured by another LEA, notwithstanding the general applicability of subsections (a) and (c) which broadly include procurement of supplies, goods, and services as well as equipment purchases. See Keough v. State, 356 S.W.3d 366, 371 (Tenn. 2011) (citing generally accepted rule of statutory construction that "a special statute, or a special provision of a particular statute, will prevail over a general provision in another statute or a general provision in the same statute"). Subject to this specific limitation on equipment procurement in subsection (b), however, subsections (a) and (c) of Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-3-1203 allow purchases of food supplies and services by an LEA in conjunction with any other municipality, county, utility district, or other governmental unit.

HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General and Reporter

ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General

JANIE C. PORTER
Senior Counsel

Requested by:
The Honorable Steve Southerland
State Senator
10 Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243-0201