Attorney Contract Referee/Hearing Officer

Agency:	Burlington County
State:	New Jersey
Type of Government:	State & Local
NAICS Category:	541110 - Offices of Lawyers
Posted Date:	Feb 18, 2026
Due Date:	Mar 4, 2026
Original Source:	Please Login to View Page
Contact information:	Please Login to View Page
Bid Documents:	Please Login to View Page

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REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

ATTORNEY CONTRACT REFEREE/HEARING OFFICER

Description:

The intent of this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) is to allow the County of

Burlington to create a pool of qualified attorneys for the period of April 1, 2026 to March

31, 2029 duly licensed in the State of New Jersey and in good standing to serve as a

Contract Referee/Hearing Officer for employee disciplinary and grievance matters as

assigned by the Division of Human Resources. The services required by the contract

referee/hearing officer, as contractor(s) with the County, will be to conduct disciplinary

and/or grievance hearings during normal County business hours (dates and times are

on an as needed basis subject to the County’s specific needs) at designated locations

throughout Burlington County including, but not limited to, Mt. Holly and Westampton.

The contract referee/hearing officer will be required to schedule/hold hearings and issue

written recommended decisions in a timely manner in accordance with the terms of

applicable collective bargaining agreements and New Jersey law. The contract

referee/hearing officer will issue a written decision which shall include findings of fact,

conclusions of law and a recommendation for discipline or disposition of grievance to

the Director of Human Resources on all cases she or he is assigned. The term of the

contract will be from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.

Qualification Requirements:

Successful candidates must meet the following criteria:

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor of arts or

sciences degree and a law degree (Juris Doctor).

Be duly licensed in New Jersey as an attorney and presently in good standing.

Have a minimum of five years of experience with New Jersey civil service and

public sector labor law including: applying terms and conditions of collective bargaining

agreements to union and employee grievances and formulating management’s

response or representing management’s interests in regard to unfair practice charges,

grievance/arbitration hearings, and/or appearances at the Office of Administrative Law.

Proof of said experience must be submitted with this RFQ.

Must possess a valid driver’s license and supply his/her own transportation,

office space, telephone number, including answering machine and fax capability,

computer with internet connection, secure e-mail and Microsoft Word software and

related office supplies.

Conflicts of Interest:

Candidates must execute and deliver with the response to this RFQ a

certification in the form provided stating that the candidate has no conflicts of interest,

actual or apparent, that would compromise his/her independence of judgment in the

performance of the designated services. (See attached conflict of interest certification

to be executed and returned with submission of package).

Compliance with Laws:

If awarded a contract, contractor must comply with the requirements of N.J.S.A.

10:5-31 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 17:27 (see attached affirmative action language). The

selected vendor(s) shall comply with the requirements of P.L. 1975, c.127 by submitting

an employee information report or certificate of employee information approval. This

obligation shall be addressed within the formal agreement.

Scope of Work:

Successful candidate(s) must:

Have comprehensive knowledge of the NJ Uniform Administrative Procedure

Rules (N.J.A.C. 1:1-1 et seq.), the NJ Civil Service Act (N.J.S.A. 11A:1-1 et seq.), and

related NJ Department of Personnel regulations (N.J.A.C. 4A:1-1 et seq.). the NJ

Employer-Employee Relations Act; (specifically, N.J.S.A. 34:13A-5.1 et seq. dealing

with public employers/employees) and related regulations (N.J.A.C. 19:10-1.1 et seq.).

Have a comprehensive knowledge of management-union issues related to

negotiable and non-negotiable terms and conditions of public employment.

Be able to conduct disciplinary hearings and grievances and render written

recommended decisions in cases in accordance with the time frames embodied in the

applicable collective bargaining agreements, the New Jersey Civil Service Act and

related regulations, the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act pertaining to

public employers/employees and related regulations, the New Jersey Uniform

Administrative Procedure Rules and any other related statues, regulations or applicable

court decisions.

Be available on an as-needed basis during the normal business week to conduct

Loudermill hearings pursuant to applicable law and regulations for employees whose

alleged conduct may pose a threat to themselves, the workplace, others or the public.

Conduct fair and uniform hearings, following a standardized due process format,

where both sides are permitted to present testimony, documentary or other relevant

evidence, providing parties the opportunity to make opening and closing statements,

and protecting both the employer’s and employees’ rights.

Be courteous and civil toward management representative, union

representatives, affected employees and other participants while maintaining civil and

orderly decorum during hearings.

Have command of the English language and be able to produce a written

recommended decision containing both parties; presentations, findings of fact,

conclusions of law and recommended disciplines and/or disposition of grievance.

Deliver in paper and/or electronic form recommended decisions to the Director of

Human Resources and/or his designee at least five business days prior to deadlines

contained in the applicable collective bargaining agreement and/or New Jersey law.

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Submission of Qualifications:

The County intends to award a contract for contract referee services pursuant to

N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i). The contract period shall be April 1, 2026 through March 31,

2027 subject to approval as to funding in the applicable County Budget. The Office of

the County Solicitor will supply the form of contract.

This RFQ is open to all qualified candidates. The County of Burlington will not

discriminate on the basis of gender, race, age, ethnicity, handicap or any other legally

protected class. A review committee will be established which shall review and

evaluate all responses and determine a limited number of best-qualified candidate

applicants with which to negotiate. After negotiations, the review committee will

recommend to the Burlington County Board of Commissioners that candidate or

candidates to which a contract award should be made. If the review committee's

recommendations(s) are accepted by the Freeholder Board, the award of the contract(s)

shall be formalized by Resolution of that Board.

Responses to the RFQ are due no later 2:00 PM on Wednesday, March 4,

2026 and must be submitted to the Office of the Burlington County Solicitor, 49

Rancocas Road, Room 225, P.O. Box 6000, Mount Holly, New Jersey 08060.

Insurance Requirements:

The successful vendor shall provide and maintain the following minimum limits of

insurance coverage during the period of performance required under the contract

resulting from this Request for Qualifications:

Comprehensive General Liability including Products Completed Operations

coverage for Personal Injury and Property Damage of not less than one million

dollars ($1,000,000) for each occurrence/ two million dollars ($2,000,000) annual

aggregate.

Automobile Liability insurance of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000)

combined single limit (coverage for owned and/or non-owned auto and hired car

liability).

Prior to the effective awarding of the contract, and as a condition precedent to

such contract taking effect, the contractor shall provide a Certificate of Insurance as

verification of the required insurance. Approval of the coverage and Certificate of

Insurance is a condition precedent to the awarding of the contract. The certificate

should be issued to:

(Note: Insurance Coverage must be furnished in the name of the entity

and/or person providing the requested services).

Burlington County Board of Commissioners

49 Rancocas Road, P.O. Box 6000

Mt. Holly, NJ 08060-6000

Attn: Insurance & Risk Management

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A statement from the contractors insurance broker stating that the contractor

will, upon successful award of any contract to their client, supply the contractor

with insurance in the types and amounts required by the specifications stated

above.

Statement of Ownership:

In accordance with N.J.S.A. 52:25-24.2, every corporation and/or partnership

must submit a statement setting forth the names and addresses of all stockholders in

the corporation or partners in the partnership, who own ten (10%) percent or more of its

stock, of any class, or of all individual partners in the partnership who own a ten (10%)

percent or greater interest therein, as the case may be. If one or more such stockholder

or partner is, itself a corporation or partnership, the stockholders holding 10% or more of

that corporations’ stock, or the individual partners owning ten percent 10% or greater

interest in that partnership, as the case may be, shall also be listed. This disclosure

shall be continued until names and addresses of every non-corporate stockholder, and

individual partner exceeding the 10% ownership criteria established by this notice have

been listed. If no stockholder owns more than ten (10%) percent, note by stating

“None”. (See attached statement of ownership form to be executed and returned with

submission of package).

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STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP DISCLOSURE

N.J.S.A. 52:25-24.2 (P.L. 1977, c.33, as amended by P.L. 2016, c.43)

This statement shall be completed, certified to, and included with all bid and proposal submissions.

Failure to submit the required information is cause for automatic rejection of the bid or proposal.

Name of Organization:

Organization Address

Part I Check the box that represents the type of business organization:

Sole Proprietorship (skip Parts II and III, execute certification in Part IV)

Non-Profit Corporation (skip Parts II and III, execute certification in Part IV)

  For-Profit Corporation (any type) Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Partnership

  Limited Partnership

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

Other (be specific): ______________________________________________

Part II

The list below contains the names and addresses of all stockholders in the

corporation who own 10 percent or more of its stock, of any class, or of all

individual partners in the partnership who own a 10 percent or greater interest

therein, or of all members in the limited liability company who own a 10 percent

or greater interest therein, as the case may be. (COMPLETE THE LIST BELOW

IN THIS SECTION)

No one stockholder in the corporation owns 10 percent or more of its stock, of

any class, or no individual partner in the partnership owns a 10 percent or greater

interest therein, or no member in the limited liability company owns a 10 percent

or greater interest therein, as the case may be. (SKIP TO PART IV)

(Please attach additional sheets if more space is needed):

Name of Individual or Business Entity

Address

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This page summarizes the opportunity, including an overview and a preview of the attached documents.

Attorney Contract Referee/Hearing Officer

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