[Adopted 5-27-1986 (P-17)]
A.
The
Information Technology Office is designated as the "clearinghouse"
for the purchase of all electronic data processing equipment, software
and related supplies used by Kent County government. All requests
for computers and related equipment, software and supplies shall be
submitted to the Information Technology Manager or his designee for
approval before a purchase order is issued.
B.
The
Information Technology Manager or his designee shall determine the
appropriateness of all requests in a timely manner based upon their
impact on at least the following:
[1]
Editor's Note: For additional information regarding purchases
for County purposes, see Policy 22, Part IV, Procurements.
[Adopted 5-26-1987 (P-20)]
A.
This
Policy is applicable to the posting of all non-governmental public
notices on all County bulletin boards in the Kent County Administration
Building, Kent County Emergency Services Building, Wastewater Treatment
Facility, and other County buildings.
B.
Anyone
wishing to post information of potential interest to the general public
on County bulletin boards shall first receive permission from the
County Administrator or designee, except that no posting of any public
notice shall be permitted which:
(1)
Discriminates against any individual or group of individuals on the
basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age or handicap.
(2)
Promotes any political party or candidate for office.
(3)
Could be construed to offend public morals.
(4)
Promotes any illegal purpose or is potentially libelous or defamatory
to any individual or group.
C.
When not prohibited by Subsection B above, all notices must meet the following criteria:
(1)
No notice shall be larger than 11 inches by 17 inches.
(2)
All notices shall include the date of posting, "take down" date and
the name and phone number of the person or group responsible for the
posting.
(3)
Due to limited space, no notice shall be posted except in areas designated
for non-governmental public notices.
D.
The
posting of any non-governmental notice which is in violation of the
above shall be subject to removal without prior notification.
[Adopted 4-11-1989 (P-32)]
A.
Scope. This Policy restricts access to all computer-readable data
collected and maintained by the County on its central computing equipment
or on any computing equipment owned by the County and situated away
from the Information Technology Office. The Policy applies regardless
of the size or capacity of the computing equipment and regardless
of the magnetic media on which the data is stored.
B.
Background. In the course of carrying out their statutory responsibilities,
the operating agencies of Kent County collect, convert, store and
maintain significant quantities of data in a form that is readily
available for computer processing. This data represents a substantial
investment which the County has made over the years and continues
to make in order to support modern, cost-effective computer processing.
The current direction of the County indicates that the range of machine-readable
data will increase dramatically over the next decade. The data collected
by the County has great value to the operating agencies and is essential
to the performance of their duties. This same base of data also has
value to organizations and individuals outside County government.
It is the growing interest for data by these outside agents that recommends
the establishment of this Policy.
C.
Policy statement. It is the policy of the Levy Court that access
to the computerized information bases of the various County agencies
be available to organizations and individuals outside its agencies
in consideration of the following restrictions:
(1)
All data made available to outside agents must be public in nature
and may not be governed by confidential information restrictions imposed
by federal or state agencies.
(2)
The intended use of any data acquired from the County must be clearly
within moral, ethical and legal standards as determined by the Levy
Court or its representative.
(3)
Data requested by a political subdivision of Kent County will be
provided at no cost where there is a statutory basis for supplying
data.
(4)
Data requested by state and federal agencies, other counties and
their political subdivisions for the performance of their work, and
data requested by legally tax exempt, not-for-profit organizations
which are involved in charitable or civic activities within the County
will be provided at the County's cost of production as defined in
this section.
(6)
No provisions in this policy are intended to conflict with the provisions
of any applicable "Freedom of Information" statutes or the legitimate
orders of any court in the state.
D.
Cost of production fees are set by ordinance and subject to change.
E.
Authorization. The County Administrator shall authorize all requests
for access to the County's databases. The Information Technology Office
will schedule the production of labels, lists and other requested
media only upon receipt of an authorization signed by the County Administrator.
The work shall be scheduled at the convenience of the County.
[Adopted 6-11-1991 (P-45)]
This Policy provides for the disposal of any and all surplus
equipment and supplies, being the property of Kent County, in a manner
which will be in the best interest of Kent County.
A.
Department heads and row officials will determine when equipment
and/or supplies become surplus to their department.
C.
Items with a value of $50 or more will be publicly advertised and
sold to the highest bidder who presents a sealed bid with acceptable
surety.
D.
If no bid is received, the department manager, designated by the
County Administrator, shall dispose of the surplus items in one of
the following ways:
E.
The Finance Department shall be notified of all surplus items with
fixed asset inventory numbers after transfer or disposal is completed.
[Adopted 11-9-1999 (P-79)]
This Policy establishes a procedure for the proper use of County-owned
or -provided telephones, including cellular phones.
A.
OCCASIONAL
OFFICIAL
PERSONAL
SHORT DURATION
For the purposes of this Policy, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
No more than two telephone calls per day.
A person elected to public office.
Any telephone call not related to the exercise of one's duties,
job, or position.
Any telephone call lasting five minutes or less.
B.
Telephone use is essential to the delivery of County services in
a timely and convenient manner and as such should be reasonably available
to permit access to County offices or officials.
C.
Voice mail and other communications requesting a response from an
employee shall be regularly reviewed and telephone calls returned
promptly.
D.
The occasional use of a County-owned or -provided telephone for making
or receiving local area personal calls of short duration is permitted.
Whenever possible, such personal calls should be made or received
during normal breaks or rest periods and outside of customer service
areas. Emergency use of telephones is always permitted.
E.
Employees shall complete and retain a report on such form as designated
by the Finance Department of all long-distance telephone, facsimile,
or toll calls for auditing purposes. Monthly telephone invoices shall
be reviewed and all personal long-distance or toll calls identified
for reimbursement to the County.
F.
Personal long-distance telephone, facsimile, or toll calls should
not be made on County-owned or -provided telephones, but whenever
such a call cannot be avoided, the responsible employee or official
shall reimburse the County the cost indicated on the bill for the
specific toll call(s). A receipt indicating reimbursement for such
calls shall be submitted with the individual office's monthly long-distance
telephone toll call invoice. A receipt indicating payment for such
calls by an official shall be submitted monthly to the Finance Department.
For cellular telephone users, all personal calls made after exhausting
allowable charges (free minutes), if any, shall be presumed to be
toll calls and reimbursement made to the County. Allowable charges
shall first be applied to County business-related calls and only after
covering all business calls shall such be applied to personal calls.
G.
The use of a County-owned or -provided telephone for inappropriate
or illegal purposes, such as but not limited to harassing telephone
calls or contacting a "900" number or similar type services, is prohibited.
H.
Enforcement of this Policy relating to employees shall be the responsibility
of each department head. Any employee complaints, disputes or objections
arising from this Policy shall be directed to the affected department
head or the Personnel Office.
I.
Enforcement of this Policy as to officials shall be the responsibility
of the Kent County Levy Court.
J.
Portable County-owned or -provided telephones are the responsibility
of the employee or official having possession of same and as such
the employee or official must exercise due care to prevent the loss
or damage of such equipment. If such telephones are lost or damaged
due to carelessness, the employee or official shall be responsible
for paying for the replacement of the equipment.
K.
Employees violating this Policy shall be subject to disciplinary
action up to and including termination and/or the suspension of use
privileges.
L.
Elected officials and deputies violating this Policy shall be subject
to suspension of use of County owned or provided telephone(s) for
such period(s) of time as determined by the Levy Court.
[Adopted 9-12-2000 (P-81)]
This Policy establishes the guidelines for usage of all Kent
County computer networks and computer network applications and includes
Internet usage guidelines.
A.
Policy compliance.
(1)
Computer network and Internet systems, just as with other County
resources, are for official use only. Use of Kent County networks
and the Internet must be consistent with the goals of facilitating
and disseminating knowledge, encouraging collaborative projects and
resource sharing, aiding technical transfer to Kent County businesses,
fostering innovation and competitiveness within Kent County, and building
a broader infrastructure to support professional, work-related activities.
(2)
Each department is responsible for the activities of its employees
and for ensuring that its employees are familiar with this Policy.
B.
Data processing standards.
(1)
Use of County computers, e-mail, networks and the Internet subjects
each user to monitoring. Transmitting inappropriate material over
County networks or the Internet, including pornography, gambling material,
documents containing religious or racially disparaging content, and
illegally obtained copyrighted material, is a violation of this policy.
(2)
The County e-mail system will be monitored and audited for inappropriate
usage. Information shared using the e-mail system is not to be regarded
as private or confidential. Mailing software files and chain mail
is not authorized. Mass broadcast mailings to larger organizations
should be limited to those needed for business purposes and may be
made only with written approval from the sender's supervisor.
(3)
Use of the Internet to further professional knowledge is authorized;
however, accessing sites for entertainment, to further personal or
commercial financial gain, or to participate in "chat rooms" is in
violation of this Policy.
(4)
Only licensed copies of software programs that are supported by the
County Information Technology Office will be loaded and supported
on County PC's and networks.
(5)
Employees should not copy programs, zipped (compressed) files or
other executable files into user or shared directories on the network.
(6)
Users should monitor their own directories, ensuring that only current
data is stored on the network. Old data (data that has not been accessed
in six months) should be archived (by copying it to a floppy disk
or CD) and deleted from the network, to enable efficient use of network
storage space.
(7)
Network backups will be performed nightly. Since any file open when
the backups occur will not be copied to the backup, users should close
all programs and log out of the network each night prior to leaving
their workstation. This will enable the information stored on the
networks to be successfully backed up in the nightly process. (Any
data stored on the user's C drive will not be included in the nightly
backup, as this information resides on the PC's hard drive only.)
(8)
The networks will automatically prompt users to change their passwords
each 30 days. Easily guessed passwords (such as initials, a child's
name, birthdays) should not be used. Passwords should never be written
or displayed on a workstation.
C.
Privacy rights.
(1)
Computer network systems (including e-mail) and Internet systems
are the property of Kent County and are to be used for official County
business only. Usage of these systems, and information shared using
these systems, is not to be considered private or confidential in
any manner or at any time.
(2)
Computer network and Internet systems will be monitored and audited
for inappropriate usage. If a user accidentally accesses questionable
information using County-provided computer networks or the Internet,
that user must immediately notify his or her supervisor of such access.
Accidental access will be noted and will not be considered as a violation
of this Policy, provided the proper notification is made immediately.
(3)
Kent County reserves the right to remove unauthorized software and
data from all County computer equipment without notice.
D.
Acceptable uses. The following acceptable uses list includes ways
that information on the County networks and the Internet may be used.
This is not an inclusive list; each user should use his or her own
discretion as to how to use the networks and the Internet for County
business purposes, realizing that usage is monitored.
(1)
To provide and facilitate communication with other County, state
and federal agencies and business partners of Kent County agencies.
(2)
To communicate and exchange professional development; to maintain
or debate issues in a field of knowledge.
(3)
To use for professional society, university association, government
advisory, or standards activities related to the user's professional/vocational
discipline.
(4)
To use in applying for or administering grants or contracts for work-related
applications.
(5)
To use as a means of administrative communication or with activities
in direct support of work-related functions.
(6)
To announce products or services for use within the scope of work-related
applications, but not for commercial advertising of any kind.
E.
Principles of ethics. The following principles of ethics will apply
to County computer networks and Internet usage:
(1)
Users will not seek information on, obtain copies of, or modify files,
data, or passwords belonging to other users.
(2)
Users will not intentionally represent themselves as another user
unless explicitly authorized to do so by that other user.
(3)
Users will not violate copyright laws when using County computer
networks and the Internet. Users will not load or use unlicensed software.
(4)
Users will not intentionally develop programs that harass other users.
(5)
Users will not invade a computer or computing system and/or damage
or alter its software components.
F.
Unacceptable uses. The following list identifies unacceptable uses
of County computers, networks and the Internet. This list is intended
as a guideline and is not inclusive.
(1)
Transmitting or receiving inappropriate material. This includes sending
or receiving pornographic or sexually provocative material, gambling
material, documents containing religious or racially disparaging content,
and illegally obtained copyrighted material.
(2)
Illegal or malicious use. Use should be consistent with guiding ethical
statements and accepted community standards. The County networks and
the Internet may not be used in ways that violate applicable laws
or regulations such as transmitting or soliciting threatening, obscene,
or harassing materials. The County computer networks or the Internet
may not be used to solicit information with the intent of using such
information to cause personal harm or bodily injury.
(3)
Changing the manner in which the networks communicate with each other
or share information between users.
(4)
Unsolicited commercial advertising.
(5)
Use for recreational games, except in conjunction with a Kent County
sponsored activity.
(6)
Use for revenue-generating activities, unless related to Kent County
business.
(7)
Use for private or personal business activities.
(8)
Displaying religious themes, comments or images.
(9)
Distributing unsolicited advertising.
(10)
Distributing computer worms or viruses.
(11)
Gaining unauthorized entry to another machine.
(12)
Attempting to circumvent County user authentication or security.
(13)
Attempting to interfere with or deny service to any user or network.
(14)
Forging e-mail header information.
(15)
Sending unsolicited mail messages (spam or junk mail).
(16)
Forwarding or posting "chain letters" of any type.
(17)
Participating in Internet "chat rooms."
G.
Remedial action. When the Information Technology Office (IT) learns
of a possible inappropriate use, IT staff will immediately notify
the Personnel Director and director of the department in which the
inappropriate use occurred. In order to prevent further possible unauthorized
activity, IT may temporarily disconnect an irresponsible user from
the County network. Any determination of unacceptable usage serious
enough to require disconnection will be promptly reported to the department
director.
H.
Violation of this Policy will be subject to disciplinary action up
to and including termination and/or the suspension of use privileges
(or access).
[Adopted 6-14-2011 (P11-01)]
This Policy establishes provisions for the appropriate use of
social media by employees, but is not intended to replace or substitute
normal standards of good judgment and professional conduct.
A.
Social media includes all forms of online computer applications,
websites, tools, and platforms that enable communications between
users. The specific types of social media change frequently but, as
a general matter, include: (1) social networking sites such as Facebook,
MySpace, Linkedln, etc. (2) blogs and microblogs such as Blogger,
Twitter, Wordpress, Tumblr, etc.; and (3) content-sharing sites such
as You Tube, Flickr, Vimeo, Scribd, etc. Additionally, comments posted
to a website or blog, and other user-generated content, are subject
to the standards set forth in this Policy.
B.
Employees are prohibited from engaging in, accessing, or otherwise
using social media during working hours, unless authorized by their
department head to so do as part of County-sponsored social media
activities or job-related duties.
C.
Misconduct via social media may result in disciplinary action under
other County policies/ordinances. Employees should remain aware of
the public nature of their online activities, and there should be
no expectation of privacy with respect to content posted on the Internet.
D.
Employees violating this policy shall be subject to disciplinary
action, up to and including termination.
[Adopted 3-26-2002 (P-85)]
This Policy establishes provisions for the acquisition, rental,
design, allocation, and proper use of County uniforms.
A.
The County will provide a uniform(s), in whole or in part, to the
following positions: Department of Public Safety employees, Division
of Facilities Management employees, except administrative staff; Division
of Wastewater Facilities employees, except administrative and clerical
staff; building inspectors, property assessors, and other positions
regularly working out-of-doors and needing to be easily recognized
by the public as determined by the County Administrator.
B.
All uniforms worn by County employees, including shirts, pants, jackets,
patches, shoes, etc., featuring the County seal, logo, or identifying
a County department, division or office shall be ordered or reimbursed,
with prior approval, through the Department of Finance from the individual
"uniform" line items in the approved annual budget.
C.
As much as possible, all uniforms will be similar in design so as
to present an appropriate and consistent appearance for County employees,
depending on the type of job performed. The particular uniform style
or features, as well as all proposed changes to the appearance of
the County uniforms, must be approved in advance by the County Administrator.
D.
The allotment of uniforms (number of shirts, pants, shoes) shall
be annually reviewed and funds included in the annual budget line
item(s) to meet the need per eligible employee, to replace uniforms
as needed, and to purchase uniforms for any new employees. The specific
articles of clothing to be provided by the County and the specific
type of clothing to be provided by the employee shall be determined
by the County Administrator as funds allow.
E.
Employees provided uniforms shall wear the assigned uniform each
workday. Uniforms shall be maintained in a clean, neat, properly sized
condition and worn only when performing job duties or en route to
or from the workplace. Employees shall avoid locations or activities
while wearing a uniform, which might reflect negatively upon the County
government. Employees shall be responsible for laundering uniforms
and providing sufficient advance notice when replacement is needed.
Due to the nature of the work performed by some employees, their uniforms
will be professionally laundered without cost to the employee. Department
heads may exempt specific positions from this requirement as deemed
necessary.
F.
Damaged uniforms caused by carelessness of the employee or unusual
wear and tear outside the norm for the expected work activity shall
be replaced at cost by the employee. A terminating employee returning
damaged uniforms shall be held liable for the cost of replacing the
damaged clothing or equipment. The County will pursue legal action
as necessary to recover replacement of lost/damaged clothing and all
legal costs.
G.
All uniforms and any associated equipment provided by the County
shall be returned in clean condition upon termination of employment.
H.
Employees violating this Policy shall be subject to disciplinary
action up to and including termination.
[1]
Editor's Note: For additional information on the use of County
insignia, see Policy 10, Insignia, Emblems and Badges.
[Adopted 3-11-2003 (P-89)]
This Policy establishes negotiation procedures for the sale
of County-owned excess property.
A.
After receiving direction from the Levy Court to begin the process
of disposing of real estate, the County Administrator shall request
from a licensed appraiser a fair market value appraisal of such parcel(s).
B.
Upon receipt of an appraisal, the County Administrator may accept
the appraisal or reject it for an apparent material inadequacy and
refer the matter back to Levy Court for further instruction.
C.
The County Administrator shall obtain the names and addresses of
adjoining owners via the public record.
D.
If there is only one adjoining owner, the County Administrator shall
contact that owner and offer to sell the property for the amount of
the approved appraisal. If the owner is in agreement, the owner shall
be invited to submit a contract or asked to sign a sales contract
prepared for the County. Should the adjoining owner not wish to purchase
the property at the approved amount as established by the accepted
appraisal, the County Administrator may entertain lesser offers, with
the explicit instruction to the offeror that Levy Court approval is
required to reach a binding agreement.
E.
If there are multiple adjoining owners the County Administrator shall
notify by certified mail, return receipt requested, each owner of
the intent to dispose of the property. A sealed bid form shall be
included with the notice. The information will advise the abutting
owners of the approved appraisal value and that the property will
be sold to the highest bidder offering. Further information shall
indicate that should an adjoining owner bid an amount less than the
appraisal value and should that bid be the highest bid received, the
bid shall be subject to Levy Court approval. The bid form shall specify
the time period by which all bids must be received. The high bidder
shall be invited to submit a contract or asked to sign a sales contract
prepared for the County.
F.
The above policy is applicable to lands deemed "excess" given their
relative modest value. An alternate or modified procedure may be employed,
where Levy Court deems it necessary to do so to obtain appropriate
consideration for any given parcel. This Policy is not to be interpreted
to limit Levy Court from adopting a commercially reasonable mechanism
to convey lands that Levy Court deems, in its sole judgment, to have
a relative substantial value.
