Personal Use of Public Property - UASD Template

The UASD Personal Use of Public Property template has been prepared by UASD General Counsel, Mark Anderson, in response to HB 163 passed during the 2019 General Legislative Session. HB 163 goes into effect on July 1, 2019. The template is available in WORD and pdf formats.

Personal Use of Public Property - WORD format

Personal Use of Public Property - PDF format

In order to protect board members, employees, and contractors, we recommend that a global policy, such as the one proposed in this template, be adopted by each district board, if a global policy has not already been adopted by your district, to address the expansive application of HB 163. After adopting the policy, adjustments can be made to address specific desires of each district.

The bill provides that a public entity may adopt a written policy that authorizes a public servant to use or possess public property for personal use in addition to its primary purpose of fulfilling the public servant’s duties, if the public purpose substantially outweighs the personal benefit received by the employee from the incidental personal use of the public property.

The bill provides that a policy for use of public property adopted after a violation of the provisions of the statute cannot be retroactively adopted to remedy a violation.

The bill also provides that an employee, board member, or contractor may be charged with a 2nd degree felony for misuse of public money or public property, or fraudulent alteration, or entry of an account valued over $5,000.