Before contracting for third-party administrator professional services, all joint self-insurance programs shall establish and maintain written procedures for contracting with third-party administrators. Entering a contract for services shall not relieve the governing body of the joint self-insurance program of its ultimate governing, managerial and financial responsibilities. The procedures shall, as a minimum:

(1) Provide a method of third-party administrator selection using a formal competitive solicitation process;

(2) Require a complete written description of the services to be provided, remuneration levels, contract period and expiration date providing for a contract term no greater than five years. The contract may include an additional one year extension to be exercised at the discretion of the joint self-insurance program;

(3) Provide for the confidentiality of the program's information, data and other intellectual property developed or shared during the course of the contract;

(4) Provide for the program's ownership of the information, data, and other intellectual property developed or shared during the course of the contract;

(5) Provide for the expressed authorization of the joint self-insurance program, consultants to the program, the state risk manager, or their designees, to enter the third-party administrator's premises to inspect and audit the records and performance of the third-party administrator which pertains to the program and to obtain such records electronically when audit travel costs can be eliminated or reduced;

(6) Require the compliance with all applicable local, state and federal laws;

(7) Establish a monitoring and acceptance procedure to determine compliance with third-party administrator contract requirements; and

(8) Establish indemnification provisions and set forth insurance requirements between the parties.