Procedure For Managing Use Of County-Owned Vehicles

POLICY #57

PROCEDURE FOR MANAGING USE OF COUNTY‑OWNED VEHICLES

PURPOSE:

To establish a policy for reducing fuel usage, wear‑and‑tear, and liability related to employee use of non‑law‑enforcement, county‑owned vehicles.

REASON:

As a rule, public employees should not be able to drive county vehicles for travel between home and work. In limited cases, however, there exists a public benefit for an exception to this rule. This policy documents how these exceptions shall be managed by the Commission. It also provides guidelines for what is considered appropriate and inappropriate use of county vehicles.

POLICY

A. Obtaining Take‑Home Privileges for Non‑Law Enforcement Vehicles

For an employee to take a vehicle home, the appropriate department head must submit the following information to the Commission Chairman:

1. Employee’s Job Title & Description

2. Rationale of the public benefit for the employee to be able to drive their vehicle home every day after work.

The CAO shall consider requests by all departments that report to the CAO. The Chairman shall consider requests by all departments which report to the Chairman.

Consideration shall be given to whether the public benefit derived by the County is worth the additional wear‑and‑tear, fuel consumption, and liability to Houston County.

B. Guidelines for Personal Use of Houston County Vehicles in Which Take‑Home Privileges Are Granted

This section provides guidance on appropriate and inappropriate use of county‑owned vehicles. It is not an exhaustive list.

a. Appropriate Personal Uses

1. Driving between home and work

2. Stopping by the gym, grocery store, or pharmacy between work and home

3. Going directly to a youth ball practice or game after work if you don’t have time to travel home

4. Traveling to a school function during the work day

b. Inappropriate Uses

1. Driving to church on Sunday

2. Driving to do grocery shopping on weekends

3. Driving home before driving it to the grocery store during county work days

4. Using it for personal chores

5. Using it for side‑jobs

6. Driving it to an out‑of‑town sporting event

C. Expiration of Privileges

Take‑home privileges shall expire and must be resubmitted for consideration if any part of the position’s job description is changed.

D. Exemptions & Exceptions

This policy shall not apply to vehicles used exclusively by the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement purposes.

Request for Vehicle Use Exemption

Department: Job Title: Tag: Make/Model:

Brief Job Description:

Briefly describe how the public would benefit if the person in this position would be able to take home their assigned county vehicle:

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