County revising drug and alcohol policy for employees

Cheyenne County Commissioners approved future changes to the county's policy regarding drug and alcohol testing of employees and funding for training department heads during Monday's regular meeting.

County Attorney Paul Schaub presented the policy change to the board, saying that currently there are different policies in place including the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) policy that applies to people operating commercial vehicles.

"There's also a policy in our handbook that applies to non-DOT's, but it's not very thorough," Schaub said. "I am suggesting that you adopt a more detailed policy for non-DOT purposes."

Schaub said he researched several policies, and found the one used by the City of Lincoln best fits the county's purpose.

"I can tell you this," he said. "You cannot just have a random drug and alcohol policy in place for everyone. It has to be either a safety-sensitive position or one of those positions where you are required to do testing under the DOT."

Schaub said conducting random testing outside of those areas, it would be considered by law an impermissible search.

"It's just not lawful," he said.

A search could be conducted outside the parameters if there is reasonable suspicion the employee is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Schaub said. He said WPCI, the regional entity that conducts testing on submitted samples, has a trainer in place that can teach department heads what amounts to suspicion at a cost of $1,250.

"And our insurance provider has strongly recommended that, before you have people making decisions based on reasonable suspicion, they be trained," Schaub said.

Schaub said for the training, it is possible the county could coordinate with the City of Sidney to share time and cost.

"The city is looking at doing this, too," he said.

The commissioners unanimously approved funding for the training and for Schaub to draft a non-DOT drug and alcohol testing policy for the county based on that of Lincoln.

"It seems to be pretty thorough, " District 2 Commissioner Darrell Johnson said. "I think we're all in agreement that we certainly need something in place because what we have now isn't doing us any favors."