Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Grand Jury Court Reporting Services; USAO, Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Greeneville)
Department of Justice · Offices, Boards and Divisions
More open Offices, Boards and Divisions contracts
AI summarySmall businesses only: the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) wants grand jury court reporting for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Tennessee, under combined synopsis/solicitation 15JA0527Q00000001, at courthouses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Greeneville. The response due date is November 11, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern. The plan is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, where orders come as needed, with a base year starting March 1, 2027 and four one-year options. You may quote for one, two or all three locations. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 21, 2026. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of another version of this notice: check what changed on SAM.gov. The notice looks incomplete: Part of the solicitation PDF (about 132,600 characters, including the clause list and the first part of the grand jury court reporter security requirements) was left out of the text read; the full solicitation is attached on SAM.gov. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Small businesses only: the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) wants grand jury court reporting for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Tennessee, under combined synopsis/solicitation 15JA0527Q00000001, at courthouses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Greeneville. The response due date is November 11, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern. The plan is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, where orders come as needed, with a base year starting March 1, 2027 and four one-year options. You may quote for one, two or all three locations.
Who can bid
- Small business under NAICS 561492 (Court Reporting and Stenotype Services); this is a total small business set-aside, and quotes from firms that do not meet the size standard are not considered
- At least two court reporters offered as key personnel, qualified in stenotype, real time, computer aided transcription or monitored multi-microphone recording
- Ability to meet the grand jury security requirements (approved standalone computers, locked storage, approved delivery); the Government may review this before award and can disqualify a firm that cannot
How to submit: Email to Contracting Officer Brandon Wish at brandon.wish@usdoj.gov. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
From the version posted Oct 21, 2026.
- Serious: Total small business set-aside. Only small businesses under NAICS 561492 can win; you must verify your status in the quote or it will not be considered.
- Serious: Personnel must be cleared before work starts. Every person who touches grand jury material needs Government clearance, and work begins only after enough staff are cleared, so start-up can take time.
- Serious: Strict grand jury security, with a possible pre-award review. Computers must run standalone with internet off, and storage, delivery and destruction are tightly controlled; a firm that cannot meet this can be disqualified.
Show all 10Show fewer
- Worth checking: Same-day and next-day transcripts. Same-day transcripts are due by 9:00 PM and next-day by 9:30 AM, possibly without advance notice, which can mean working after hours.
- Worth checking: Order volume is uncertain. The Government guarantees only $1,000.00 across the whole contract, and the ceiling and maximum order are still TBD, so income depends on actual orders.
- Worth checking: Incomplete or marked-up pricing can be rejected. Every line for each location you quote needs a price, and partial pricing may make the quote ineligible.
- Worth checking: Short notice for sessions. The Government tells the contractor of a session no later than one business day before it, and the same reporter must stay all day.
- Minor: No travel pay inside 50 miles. Travel within 50 miles of the courthouses is not reimbursed, so build that cost into your unit prices.
- Minor: Service Contract Act wage rates apply. Wage Determinations 2015-4643, 2015-4525 and 2015-4669 set minimum pay for covered workers, which affects your price.
- Minor: One-hour breach reporting. Any actual or suspected data breach must be reported to the contracting officer and COR within one hour of discovery.
Read from the notice and 5 attachments. Show which files.
- 15JA0527Q00000001.pdf (read)
- 15JA0527Q00000001 Attachment 2 - Pricing Schedule.pdf (read)
- 15JA0527Q00000001 Attachment 1 - AIs and Sample Docs.pdf (read)
- 15JA0527Q00000001 Attachment 4 - Security Checklists.pdf (read)
- 15JA0527Q00000001 Attachment 3 - Wage Determinations.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Send a court reporter to attend grand jury sessions: Knoxville twice a month (first and third Wednesday), Chattanooga monthly (fourth Tuesday) and Greeneville monthly (second Tuesday), each about 5 hours; the office has averaged 48 proceedings a year
- Produce a separate certified transcript for each witness, only when the U.S. Attorney's Office asks, in searchable PDF sent through USAfx (the Government's secure file exchange)
- Meet transcript turnaround times: 10, 5 or 3 business days, next business day by 9:30 AM, or same business day by 9:00 PM
- Estimated first-year quantities for Knoxville include 1,300 PA of 10 Business Day Transcript, 140 PA of 5 Business Day, 60 PA of 3 Business Day, 50 PA each of Next and Same Business Day, and 120 HR of Attendance Fee
- Estimated first-year quantities for Chattanooga and for Greeneville are each 700 PA of 10 Business Day Transcript, 100 PA of 5 Business Day, 50 PA each of 3 Business Day, Next Business Day and Same Business Day, and 60 HR of Attendance Fee
- Provide at least two court reporters as key personnel, and the same reporter for a whole session day
- Protect grand jury material at all times: approved standalone computers, locked storage, approved delivery methods and destruction of waste
- Report security incidents at once and keep a master index of grand jury sessions
- Contract type
- Indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ), time-and-materials (T&M) type; multiple single-award IDIQ contracts may result, by location
- Period of performance
- Base year March 1, 2027 to February 29, 2028, plus four one-year options through February 29, 2032; may be extended up to six more months under FAR 52.217-8
- Place of performance
- Federal courthouses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Greeneville, TN (Howard Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Joel Solomon U.S. Courthouse and James H. Quillen Federal Courthouse)
- Estimated value
- Not stated; the ceiling and maximum order limit are TBD. Minimum guarantee is $1,000.00 over the life of the contract.
- How they'll choose
- Best value to the Government. Technical and past performance combined are significantly more important than price.
- Offers due
- November 11, 2026, 1:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email to Contracting Officer Brandon Wish at brandon.wish@usdoj.gov
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical: proposed key personnel (resumes for at least two court reporters showing location, education, experience, security clearance level and training)
- Past Performance: up to three references of similar work completed within three years of the solicitation closing; CPARS (government contractor performance reports) and SAM are also checked
- Price: complete price proposal on Attachment 2, Pricing Schedule; base and all option prices are added together
What to include when you submit
- Start with a cover page: company name and address, phone number, point of contact name and email, SAM UEI (unique entity ID) code, small business qualification and where contractor personnel are located
- Send three separate volumes: Volume I Technical, Volume II Past Performance, Volume III Price
- Verify your small business status under NAICS code 561492 in the quote
- Say which of the three locations (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Greeneville) you quote for, and fill in every line item for those locations in Attachment 2, Pricing Schedule
- Volume I: give resumes of the proposed key personnel, a minimum of two court reporters
- Volume II: send up to three past performance references of similar work completed within three years of this solicitation closing
- Volume III: enter a unit price and total for each line item except the travel lines; write N/C for no charge, not zero or N/A; no asterisks, exceptions or comments on the pricing pages
- Questions go to brandon.wish@usdoj.gov by the question deadline
After award, you must have
- All contractor personnel with access to grand jury material must be cleared; the Government sends security application forms within 10 calendar days after award, they are due back within 7 calendar days, and a notice to proceed follows after enough staff are cleared From 15JA0527Q00000001.pdf:
All Contractor personnel who will have access to Grand Jury material will need to be cleared.
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. Multiple single-award IDIQ contracts may result, and the Government may award one or more locations to one firm.
Not in the notice text
- Part of the solicitation PDF (about 132,600 characters, including the clause list and the first part of the grand jury court reporter security requirements) was left out of the text read; the full solicitation is attached on SAM.gov
- The pricing schedule and the wage determinations were only partly read: the middle of each was left out, so some option year line items and wage determinations 2015-4525 and 2015-4669 were not seen
- Contract ceiling, maximum order limit, the IDIQ contract number and the names of people who may place work orders are all marked TBD
- The small business size standard for NAICS 561492 is not stated in the text read
- No site visit is mentioned
Eligibility and how to respond
- Set aside for small businesses: only a business that counts as small under this notice's NAICS code can bid as the prime contractor. More open small business set-asides under NAICS 561492
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to Contracting Officer Brandon Wish at brandon.wish@usdoj.gov. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 21, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- Eousa-Acquisitions Staff, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- R606 · Support – Administrative: Court Reporting
- Business type
- Administrative & staffing support (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 561492)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 21, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 11, 2026
- Oct 21, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/Solicitation (this version)Due Nov 11, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
- Set-aside contracts explained
Terms on this notice: Solicitation, Set-aside
Full notice text from SAM.gov
** Full Solicitation in Attachments ** This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for Grand Jury Court Reporting Services (commercial items) for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Tennessee, prepared in accordance with FAR 12.201-1, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This acquisition is being conducted as a Small Business Set-Aside. All offerors are required to verify their small business status under NAICS code 561492 in their quote. Any quotes from offerors that do not meet the socioeconomic requirement and small business size standard will not be considered for award. Specific instructions to offerors and minimum quote submission criteria are located in Section 8, Addendum to 52.212-1- Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors (Mar 2023) Questions in regard to this solicitation are due November 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM Eastern to the Contracting Officer via email at brandon.wish@usdoj.gov. Questions submitted after this deadline may not be responded to. Quotes are due November 11, 2026 at 1:00 PM Eastern to the Contracting Officer via email at brandon.wish@usdoj.gov. For further information regarding this solicitation, contact: Brandon Wish Contracting Officer Executive Office for United States Attorneys brandon.wish@usdoj.gov 803-297-2111