The Attorney General’s Office told the Ohio Controlling Board on July 21 that it contracted again with the Kalahari Resort for the 2025 law-enforcement conference after Kalahari was the only vendor to submit a proposal. The board approved the contract without objection.

The office’s chief financial officer, Aileen Heizer, said the office solicited nine vendors in 2024 and only Kalahari submitted a proposal; in 2025 the office posted the opportunity on Ohio Buys and notified 116 vendors but again received a single proposal from Kalahari. "After soliciting those 9 vendors, Kalahari was the only 1 that had the available space dates, and the only 1 to submit a proposal," Heizer said. She added that because the office had a successful conference there last year, it decided to contract with Kalahari again.

Representative Teresa Brennan asked why the office selected that location and highlighted the waiver of competitive bidding. Heizer replied that the office attempted broad solicitation and that availability and the prior relationship with Kalahari drove the award. No member objected, and the board approved the item by voice vote.

Discussion only: board members asked about the vendor solicitation process and the rationale for reselecting Kalahari; the office described prior solicitation efforts and vendor response rates.

Formal action: the Controlling Board approved the Attorney General’s item (item 8) without objection.

The office did not provide contract dollar amounts or the competing vendors’ proposals during the discussion. Members did not request a formal audit or additional reporting as part of the approval.

For verification, the transcript includes the CFO’s explanation and Representative Brennan’s questions about the vendor selection and the board president’s statement that the item was approved without objection.