12 Miss. Code. R. 9-6.7
Each proposal or qualification shall be time and date stamped upon receipt, but not opened. All proposals and qualifications received shall be securely stored16 until the submission deadline has passed. Electronic proposals received shall also be securely stored until the submission deadline has passed.
At the time designated in the RFP or RFQ, proposals or qualifications shall be opened in the presence of at least two Agency officials, but should not be opened publicly. Agencies shall take every precaution in opening proposals or qualifications to avoid the disclosure of the contents of competing proposals or qualifications to offerors or members of the public prior to issuance of the Notice of Intent to Award. See Section 1.5.
Unless the solicitation states otherwise, proposals and qualifications need not be unconditionally accepted without alteration or correction.
Proposals or qualifications may be withdrawn prior to the submission deadline by written notice to the Agency official responsible for the procurement. At the sole discretion of the Agency, the withdrawn proposal or qualification may be returned to the offeror or remain in the Agency Procurement File.
Proposals or qualifications may be modified prior to the time and date set for submission by written notice to the Agency official primarily responsible for the procurement. An offeror intending to modify its proposal or qualification shall withdraw the proposal or qualification originally submitted and resubmit the modified proposal or qualification, in its entirety, prior to the submission deadline. At the sole discretion of the Agency, the withdrawn proposal or qualification may be returned to the offeror or remain in the Agency Procurement File.
Proposals or qualifications received after the time and date set for submission shall not be considered for award unless the Agency Head or his or her designee has determined, in writing, that considering such a proposal or qualification is in the best interest of the Agency and does not prejudice the other offerors. At the sole discretion of the Agency, any late proposal or qualification may be returned to the offeror or remain in the Agency Procurement File.
An offeror may withdraw its proposal or qualification after the submission deadline by submitting a written request to the Agency official responsible for the procurement. In the Agency's sole discretion, any such proposal or qualification may be returned to the offeror or maintained in the Agency Procurement File.
No changes in the proposal or qualifications shall be permitted after the submission deadline, unless the Agency determines such a change is not prejudicial to the interest of the Agency or fair competition.
When the Agency knows or has reason to conclude before award that a mistake has been made in a proposal or qualification, the Agency, in its sole discretion, may request that the offeror confirm that the proposal or qualification is correct.
If the offeror alleges a mistake, the proposal or qualification may be corrected if allowing such a correction is not to be prejudicial to the Agency or prejudicial to the equal and fair treatment of the other offerors.
If the offeror asserts there is no mistake, or if the Agency chooses not to request confirmation, the proposal or qualification shall be evaluated as submitted. Should
the offeror be awarded a contract, any mistake in the proposal or qualification shall be managed by the Agency as a contract compliance issue.
Minor informalities are matters of form rather than substance; are evident from the proposal or qualification; are insignificant mistakes which can be waived or corrected without prejudice to other offerors; and the effect of a correction on price, quantity, quality, delivery, or contractual conditions is negligible. The Agency may waive such informalities or allow the offeror to correct them depending on which the Agency determines is in its own best interest and does not prejudice the other offerors.
The Agency shall briefly summarize any determinations made or action taken under Section 6.7.3 and its subsections in a memorandum which shall be maintained in the Agency Procurement File.
It shall be at the sole discretion of the procuring Agency as to whether offerors may submit multiple or alternate proposals or qualifications to be considered by the Agency. If such proposals or qualifications will be considered by the Agency, the solicitation document shall specifically so state and shall state the maximum number of multiple or alternate proposals or qualifications which will be accepted from an individual offeror.
Where an offeror submits multiple or alternate proposals or qualifications, but the solicitation document does not specifically contemplate that multiple or alternate proposals or qualifications will be considered, the Agency may - at its sole discretion - reject all proposals or qualifications submitted by the offeror or contact the offeror and ask them to withdraw all but one of the proposals or qualifications submitted.
16 The requirement that proposals or qualifications be securely stored means the proposals or qualifications are stored in such a manner that:
12 Miss. Code. R. 9-6.7