ARTICLE 4B. COMPUTER DONATION PROGRAM.

§12-4B-1. Legislative findings.

The Legislature finds that:

(a) Educational facilities, nonprofit organizations, juvenile detention centers, municipal and county public safety offices and other public, charitable or educational enterprises or organizations are always in need of computers, telecommunications devices and other technological equipment, while the acquisition of such equipment is costly;

(b) The State Auditor must frequently purchase computers, telecommunications devices and other technological equipment for his or her interaction with national and international financial services industries;

(c) The purchase by the State Auditor of modern computers, telecommunications devices and other technological equipment frequently results in the surplus of existing equipment;

(d) Surplus equipment is generally obsolete and may no longer be used effectively by agency employees;

(e) Although the computers, telecommunications devices and other technological equipment is no longer useful in interacting with the financial services industry, they may still be useful items for a less complex and less high-speed dependent use;

(f) Heretofore, the State Auditor has stripped the equipment for spare parts for other machines and that this continued practice does not necessarily result in the equipment's highest and best remaining use; and

(g) Rather than break down the equipment for spare parts or send obsolete machines to the surplus property unit of the state Purchasing Division where they may languish with lack of use, it would be in the best interest of the state that any obsolete computers, telecommunications devices or technological equipment be donated by the State Auditor's office to educational facilities, nonprofit organizations, juvenile detention centers, municipal and county public safety offices and other public, charitable or educational enterprises or organizations.

§12-4B-2. Computer donation program created.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, the State Auditor is hereby authorized within his or her agency to create a computer donation program to donate equipment, which would otherwise be transferred to the surplus property unit of the Purchasing Division, to educational facilities, nonprofit organizations, juvenile detention centers, municipal and county public safety offices and other public, charitable or educational enterprises or organizations in this state. This program authorizes the State Auditor's office to donate surplus equipment.

(b) The program shall be administered by a director as appointed or employed by the State Auditor. The Auditor may either appoint the director from existing staff from his or her office or may employ a director from existing funds.

(c) The director shall keep records and accounts that indicate the equipment donated, the age of the equipment, the reasons for declaring it obsolete and to which educational facility, nonprofit organization, juvenile detention center, municipal or county public safety office or other public, charitable or educational enterprise or organization the equipment was donated.

§12-4B-3. Legislative rules.

The State Auditor shall propose legislative rules in accordance with the provisions of article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code which shall detail the regulations for implementing the program. The rules shall provide for fair and impartial selection of equipment recipients.

§12-4B-4. Severability.

If any provision or application of this article is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect any other provision or application of this article which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.