54-06-09. Mileage and travel expense of state officers and employees
1. State officials, whether elective or appointive, and their deputies, assistants, and
clerks, or other state employees, entitled by law to be reimbursed for mileage or travel
expense, must be allowed and paid for mileage and travel expense.
a. For each mile [1.61 kilometers] actually and necessarily traveled in the
performance of official duty when the travel is by private airplane, the individual is
entitled to a sum equal to one and one-half times the mileage reimbursement
amount established under subdivision c for travel by motor vehicle. Mileage by
private aircraft must be computed by actual air mileage when only one state
employee or official is traveling; if two or more state employees or officials are
traveling by private aircraft, the actual mileage must be based on the road
mileage between the geographical points. Reimbursement for private airplane
travel must be calculated as follows:
(1) If reimbursement is for one properly authorized and reimbursable
passenger, reimbursement must be paid on a per mile basis as provided in
this subsection.
(2) If reimbursement is claimed for a chartered private aircraft, reimbursement
may not exceed the cost of regular coach fare on a commercial flight, if one
is scheduled between the point of departure, point of destination, and return,
for each properly authorized and reimbursable passenger on the charter
flight; or, where there is no such regularly scheduled commercial flight, the
actual cost of the charter.
b. Except as provided in subdivision a, when travel is by rail or certificated air taxi
commercial operator or other common carrier, including regularly scheduled
flights by airlines, the individual is entitled to reimbursement for the amount
actually and necessarily expended therefor in the performance of official duties.
c. The director of the office of management and budget shall adopt policies
establishing mileage reimbursement for actual and necessary travel in the
performance of official duty when the travel is by motor vehicle, the use of which
is required by the employing entity. The director shall amend the policies when
necessary to set reimbursement at the same rate as established by the United
States general services administration for privately owned vehicles.
2. No reimbursement may be paid for leased private aircraft, except for leased or rented
private aircraft from a recognized fixed base aviation operator who is in the business of
leasing and renting private aircraft and is located on an airport open for public use.
3. If only one person engages in such travel in a motor vehicle exceeding at any
geographical point three hundred miles [482.80 kilometers] beyond the borders of this
state, reimbursement is limited to eighteen cents per mile [1.61 kilometers] for miles
driven in excess of six hundred miles [965.60 kilometers] of round trip out-of-state
travel.
4. An official, deputy, assistant, clerk, or other employee, when required to travel by
motor vehicle or truck in the performance of official duty, shall use a state-owned
vehicle whenever possible unless exempted under section 24-02-03.3. However, an
agency, institution, department, board, bureau, or commission may allow use of an
official's, deputy's, or employee's personal motor vehicle in circumstances authorized
by the official, deputy, or the employee's supervisor. If personal motor vehicle use is
authorized under this subsection, the agency may also allow mileage reimbursement
at a rate less than that otherwise provided in this section. When official travel is by
motor vehicle or airplane owned by the state or by any department or political
subdivision of the state, no allowance may be made or paid for such mileage, except
that governmental entities may share expenses when officials or employees of those
entities travel in the same motor vehicle or aircraft.
5. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, state employees permanently
located outside the state or on assignments outside the state for an indefinite period of
time, exceeding at least thirty consecutive days, must be allowed and paid the United
States general services administration mileage rate per mile [1.61 kilometers] for each
mile [1.61 kilometers] actually and necessarily traveled in the performance of official
duty when such travel is by motor vehicle, and the three-hundred-mile
[482.80-kilometer] restriction imposed by subsection 3 does not apply.
6. Before any allowance for any such mileage or travel expenses may be made, the
official, deputy, assistant, clerk, or other employee shall file with the employee's
department, institution, board, commission, or agency an itemized statement showing
the mileage traveled, the hour of departure and return, the days when and how
traveled, the purpose thereof, and such other information and documentation as may
be prescribed by rule of the employee's department, institution, board, commission, or
agency. The statement must be submitted to the employee's department, institution,
board, commission, or agency for approval and must be paid only when approved by
the employee's department, institution, board, commission, or agency.
