(A) Any law enforcement officer employed by the County Sheriff’s Department may be assigned the use of a Departmental vehicle from time to time by the County Sheriff and may be permitted by him or her to take the assigned vehicle to his or her home when the employee is not on his or her regular shift. This will enable the off-duty law enforcement officer to immediately respond from his or her residence to emergency situations requiring a law enforcement officer. The Board of Commissioners recognizes that law enforcement officers do not work 24 hours a day, but it also recognizes that a law enforcement officer has arrest powers and a duty to enforce the laws even when not working his or her regular shift. Thus, the county’s interest in law enforcement is served whenever a law enforcement officer is traveling the public streets and highways if the officer, under departmental regulations, still has the authority to make arrests. Therefore, the County Sheriff may adopt rules whereby law enforcement officers employed by the Sheriff’s Department may be permitted to use department vehicles to travel within the county, even though the employees are not on their regular shifts if, under Departmental regulations, the employees still have the authority to make arrests.
(B) The rules, if adopted, shall contain the following conditions.
(1) The police radio must be turned on and at an audible level so the operating officer can hear it at all times.
(2) While off duty, the officer must respond to emergency calls or complaints if he or she is in the general vicinity.
(3) If the officer is responding to a life-threatening situation, he or she must use due caution and remove all non-police personnel from the vehicle at the earliest convenient moment.
(4) Off-duty use of any department vehicle will be restricted to any of the contiguous counties surrounding the county. These are Jackson, Brown, Johnson, Shelby, Decatur and Jennings Counties. Use of any Department vehicle outside of these counties will be authorized on an individual basis and approved by the Sheriff or his or her designee.
(5) A designee is any officer who holds the rank of sergeant or above. It will be the responsibility of that officer to notify the Sheriff in a timely manner either in writing or verbally of the out-of-contiguous county use.
(6) If the officer uses the vehicle out of the contiguous county area and needs fuel, it will be the responsibility of that officer to refuel the vehicle at his or her own expense.
(C) It is the intent of the Board of Commissioners that any use of a departmental vehicle authorized under this section shall be considered a bona fide business requirement of the county and, therefore, any value to the employee attributable to the use shall be excludable from the employee’s income as a “working condition fringe benefit” under the provisions of § 132(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, as now or hereafter amended.
(Prior Code, § 2-499) (Res. 1992-03, passed 4-13-1992)