Secretary Rose believes that adherence to and enforcement of the Governor's Office for Technology's "Internet and Electronic Mail Acceptable Use Policy" is essential for a professional working environment. Employees are reminded that failure to adhere to this policy may be viewed as a lack of good behavior, for which an employee may be subject to disciplinary action, including reprimand, suspension without pay, a fine of up to ten days’ pay, demotion, or dismissal.

Furthermore, misuse of state resources may amount to a violation of the executive branch code of ethics. See, e.g., KRS 11A.020. Violation of KRS Chapter 11A carries a potential penalty of $2,000 for each violation, as well as suspension or dismissal, at the recommendation of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. The Commission may also refer the matter to the Attorney General for criminal prosecution.

Employees are also reminded that accessing another person’s computer or e-mail account without authorization to disseminate information over the state’s computer network amounts to misuse of a computer, and is a Class A misdemeanor. See KRS 434.850. Upon conviction, the penalty is imprisonment for a period of ninety days to one year.

Therefore, employees are to refer to their agency’s internal policy, which may have additional information or clarification of this enterprise policy.

Each agency is responsible for assuring that employees within their organizational authority have been made aware of the provisions of this policy, that compliance by the employee is expected, and that intentional, inappropriate use may result in disciplinary action pursuant to KRS 18A up to and including dismissal.

It is also each Executive Cabinet’s responsibility to enforce and manage this policy. Failure to comply may result in additional shared service charges to the agency for GOT’s efforts to remediate inappropriate usage.

In compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth and the guidelines provided herein, employees of the Commonwealth of Kentucky are encouraged to use the Internet and E-mail to their fullest potential to further the State’s mission, to provide service of the highest quality to its citizens, to discover new ways to use resources to enhance service, and to promote staff development.

The acceptable use of Internet and E-mail represents the management of a state business resource. Supervisors should work with employees to determine the appropriateness of using the Internet and E-mail for professional activities and career development during working hours, while insuring that employees do not violate the general provisions which prohibit using the Internet and E-mail for personal gain.

Monitoring tools are in place to monitor employee’s use of electronic mail and the Internet. Unless secured by an approved encryption method, employees shall have no expectation of privacy associated with E-mail transmissions and the information they publish/store on the Internet using Commonwealth’s facilities.

Supervisors are encouraged to identify Internet and E-mail training needs and resources, to encourage use of the Internet and E-mail to improve job performance, to support staff attendance at training sessions, and to permit use of official time for maintaining skills, as appropriate.

In summary, state employees should use the Internet and E-mail, when appropriate, to accomplish job responsibilities more effectively and to enrich their performance skills. The Internet and E-mail afford unprecedented opportunities for conducting research and disseminating (publishing) job-related information.

However, excessive personal use of the Commonwealth’s E-mail or Internet resource shall lead to loss of privilege to use them.

Agencies are responsible for the content of the published information and for the actions of their employees. The Governor's Office for Technology’s (formerly Kentucky Information Resources Management Commission) policy on Electronic Mail as Public Record should be observed.

Commercial uses by agencies must be approved by GOT to make sure they do not violate the terms of GOT's agreement with the Commonwealth’s Internet provider. No reselling of access is allowed.

 

Since the Internet and E-mail constitute an uncensored worldwide network of networks, which provides for peer-to-peer communications between participants, they also have great potential for misuse.

Use of Commonwealth of Kentucky Internet and E-mail resources is a privilege that may be revoked at any time for inappropriate conduct. Any abuse of acceptable use policies may result in revocation of access, notification of agency management, and disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Examples of inappropriate conduct include, but are not limited to:

Janet W. Hoover

Communications Director

Cabinet for Workforce Development

(502) 564-6606

fax: (502) 564-7967

JanetW.Hoover@mail.state.ky.us