The first firm hired in 1998 to purge the voter rolls was Professional Service Inc., which charged $5,700 for the job. Later the same year, the state placed an open request for tenders to bid for the job. The contract was assigned to DBT Online, despite the fact that its bid had the highest price. The state gave the job to DBT for a first-year fee of US$2,317,800; total fees eventually reached US$4 million. The Florida Department of Elections terminated Professional Service Inc.'s contract in 1999. DBT Online was acquired by ChoicePoint in early 2000 (itself acquired in 2008 by RELX′s LexisNexis Risk Solutions).