Contracts; approval of state officials; rules for electronic approval; file of information

Sec. 14.1. (a) A contract to which a state agency is a party must be approved by the following persons: (1) The commissioner of the Indiana department of administration. (2) The director of the budget agency. The director of the budget agency is not required to approve a contract: (A) for supplies under IC 5-22, unless the budget agency is required to approve the contract under rules or written policies adopted under IC 5-22; or (B) for public works under IC 4-13.6, if the estimated cost of the contract is less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). (3) The attorney general, as required by section 14.3 of this chapter. (b) Each of the persons listed in subsection (a) may delegate to another person the responsibility to approve contracts under this section. The delegation must be in writing and must be filed with the Indiana department of administration. (c) The Indiana department of administration may adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to provide for electronic approval of contracts. Electronic approval may include obtaining the equivalent of a signature from all contracting parties using an electronic method, so long as the method allows the party to read the terms of the contract and to manifest the party's agreement to the contract by clicking on an "ok", an "agree", or a similarly labeled button or allows the party to not agree to the contract by clicking on a "cancel", "don't agree", "close window", or similarly labeled button. Rules adopted under this subsection must provide for the following: (1) Security to prevent unauthorized access to the approval process. (2) The ability to convert electronic approvals into a medium allowing persons inspecting or copying contract records to know when approval has been given. The rules adopted under this subsection may include any other provisions the department considers necessary. (d) The Indiana department of administration shall maintain a file of information concerning contracts and leases to which a state agency is a party.