Burnet County
Personnel Policies & Employee Handbook
40
Following all accidents, all drivers will be tested in accordance with our Drug and Alcohol Policy. CDL
drivers must follow DOT regulations.
7.05 COUNTY TELEPHONES
No personal long distance telephone calls shall be charged to any county telephones. Personal long distance
calls shall be charged to credit cards, charges reversed, or charges made to a third number. Personal calls
shall be kept to a minimum.
Effective 10/01/2019, Burnet County will not reimburse employees for use of a personal cellular device.
Where job needs demand immediate access to an employee, the county may issue a county-owned cellular
telephone to an employee for work-related communications. These phones are intended to be used for
business purposes and no personal calls are allowed. If personal cellular calls are made which result in a
charge to the county, the employee will reimburse the county within 10 days after notification from the
Auditor’s Office. Burnet County employees to whom cell phones are issued may be required to keep
location services enabled. Abuse of county issued cellular phones can result in disciplinary actions, up to
and including termination.
7.06 COUNTY VEHICLE USAGES – GENERAL GUIDELINES
All vehicles must be parked at a county facility at the end of each working day unless prior authorization
has been granted by their elected official or department head.
Vehicles may be used only for work-related duties and, if authorized, to drive to and from work. Vehicles
may be used for no other purpose, except in an emergency, or for trips completely incidental to County
employment while driving to and from a County-related job site.
If an elected official/employee uses a County vehicle to commute to and from their primary residence, the
fringe benefit use of said vehicle may be included as taxable income of the elected official/employee in
accordance with Internal Revenue Commuting Valuation Rules. Marked vehicles used by law enforcement
officers used to commute to and from work are considered as qualified non-personal vehicles and the use
of such vehicles is not considered taxable income. Unmarked vehicles used by law enforcement officers
are also considered as qualified non-personal vehicles and the use of the vehicles by such personnel to
commute to and from work is not considered as taxable income. The term “law enforcement officer” means
an individual who is employed on either a full-time or part-time basis by a governmental unit that is
responsible for the prevention or investigation of crime involving injury to persons or property (including
apprehension or detention of persons for such crime), who is authorized by law to carry firearms, execute
search warrants, and to make arrests (other than merely a citizen’s arrest), and who regularly carries firearms
(except when it is not possible to do so because of the requirements of undercover work). Use of either a
marked or unmarked vehicle by a person who is not a law enforcement officer would be considered as
taxable income.
Only County elected officials/employees, duly commissioned reserve officers authorized by the County
Sheriff or Constable, or officers assigned to special operations and/or task force units approved by
Commissioners’ Court, are authorized to drive a County vehicle. A list of duly commissioned reserve
officers authorized by the County Sheriff or Constable to drive a County vehicle shall be maintained by the
respective department head/elected official and a copy kept by the Human Resources Office.
A. Personal Use
1. At no time may a County vehicle be used for personal gain, personal business, to drive
to a place of secondary or part-time employment not related to County business, or for
any other non-County-related use.