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Clinton County to renegotiate three‑year Westlaw contract after solicitor flags renewal and confidentiality clause
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Summary
Mister Powers presented a proposed three‑year renewal of the county's Westlaw legal‑research subscription starting Nov. 1, 2025, and said Solicitor Hauser recommended removing an automatic renewal clause and a confidentiality provision that would conflict with the county's Right‑to‑Know law.
Mister Powers presented a proposed three‑year renewal of the county's Westlaw legal‑research subscription at the Oct. 13 Clinton County work session and said the overall cost is slightly lower than the previous three‑year term.
Powers said the contract period begins Nov. 1, 2025, and that a reduction in charges for non‑attorney access and a dropped charge for district court judges lowered the county's cost by about $447 for the coming year. "There's a minor a minor ish charge for the Massachusetts Bureau District judges to use it, and that is now 0. So that brought us down about about $447 this year," he said. (Transcript: 00:02:04–00:02:24.)
Powers said the county negotiates a three‑year term with common annual increases of roughly 5 percent under the vendor's standard practice, and he provided the multi‑year figures included in the meeting packet. He said Solicitor Hauser reviewed the contract and suggested two edits: remove the automatic 36‑month renewal provision, and remove a confidentiality clause that would be contrary to the county's Right‑to‑Know obligations. "I did give this to, solicitor Hauser for his review. He's made a couple of suggestions. He didn't like that there was an automatic renewal at the end of 36 months... There's a confidentiality provision in the contract that, would be contrary to the right to know law, so it's gonna have to go away," Powers said. (Transcript: 00:03:22–00:03:49.)
Powers said the contract likely would not be ready for the Thursday meeting but is not due until the end of the month. He also said options to acquire comprehensive legal‑research resources are limited and that Westlaw is the primary full legal research vendor for the county's needs. No formal vote to approve the contract renewal was recorded in the work‑session transcript.
Ending: Powers asked staff to revise the contract language based on Solicitor Hauser's comments; staff will return a revised contract for formal consideration before the procurement deadline.
