Section 54-06-09 - Mileage and travel expense of state officers and employees1. 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 forty-five cents 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.Amended by S.L. 2011, ch. 391 (HB 1098),§ 2, eff. 8/11/2011.