Alabama Attorney General completes review of 321z Insights’ contract with City of Mobile
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has completed his review of the City of Mobile’s contract with 321z Insights, LLC.
City officials requested the Office of the Attorney General to review the contract after former Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine said the contract was suspicious on the day he was fired.
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The city council passed the contract on Nov. 21, 2023, which authorized 321z Insights to review Gulf Coast Technology Center’s forensic lab standards.
Prine said he never vetted the contract, but city officials said he sponsored it.
Mobile Police Intelligence Commander and Division Commander Kevin Levy later approached 321z Insights owner Mark Baker about conducting a peer review of his independent report on Operation Echo Stop.
Prine said the company was established just weeks before the $92,000 contract was signed, but city officials said the Palm Bay, Florida-based company has done several projects for Mobile.
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Attorney General Marshall sent a letter on Wednesday, July 10, to Mobile City Attorney Ricardo Woods about his contract review.
“After a cursory review, we forwarded this information to the Alabama Department of Examiners, the state’s independent auditing agency, for closer examination,” Marshall’s letter said.
“Based on the information provided, the Department of Examiners has now informed me that the city appears to have complied with all relevant state laws in executing this contract,” the letter said.
“Barring any new information being presented to me on this matter, I have concluded that no further investigation by my Office is necessary.”
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Now, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and Prine have shared responses about the review.
Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s response
“After Paul Prine raised concerns about ‘financial impropriety’ around the 321z contract on the day I asked him to retire as chief, I told him we would immediately investigate his concerns, and we did,” Stimpson said.
“I ordered two separate investigations by Burr & Forman and the City of Mobile’s Office of Professional Responsibility, and both came to the same conclusion: nothing illegal or outside city policy occurred in the procurement of that contract.
“However, knowing that many in the community may not be satisfied with who conducted these investigations and in the interest of transparency and public confidence, we turned all the investigative materials and reports from both inquiries over to the Alabama Attorney General’s office.
“Yesterday we received a letter from the Attorney General stating their finding that the City of Mobile complied with all relevant state laws in executing this contract. This is the third independent review of all materials, which came to the same conclusion as the others.
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“The AG is the top law enforcement official in the state and with the conclusion of his investigation, I am satisfied that nothing illegal or improper has occurred in the execution of the 321z contract.“
Prine’s response:
“It should be noted that I have only stated there was an appearance of financial impropriety with
this contract due to some of the following reasons,” Prine said.
“While I hope that is not the case, the inquiry does not address the discrepancies that I have pointed out such as vendor address listed as the Mobile Police Department tech-center, not complying with [the] contractual agreement of itemizing [the] scope of work that was billed, the nonexistence of the company four weeks prior to receiving the contract, or paying $92,000.00 for a peer review only to learn that the company did not write the review.
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“I am confident that the state attorney general has conducted a ‘cursory review’ based only
on the information that the city forwarded. The report appears to be a singular issue of the contract and its compliance with state law.
“Maybe we should ask the city what information was provided to the attorney general? I appreciate the attorney general taking the time to review the contract.”
This is a developing story. News 5 will provide updates as more information becomes available.
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