Riverside County to Cut D.A.’s Take-Home Cars

RIVERSIDE, CA - More than 180 unnecessary take-home vehicles used by the Riverside County District Attorney's office will be cut, reported The Press-Enterprise.

District Attorney Rod Pacheco's office plans to do away with all but three of the 187 take-home cars reported in audit documents, according to the Enterprise.  

Auditor-Controller Robert Byrd's report, released last month, found that about one in five county cars was a take-home car. That's 1,055 out of the county's 5,300 cars and trucks. The county pays to purchase, fuel, and maintain all county cars and covers commuting costs when cars are driven home, reported the Enterprise.

County policy has long permitted employees to bring home county vehicles only if it saves the county money or if the employees need the cars to respond to emergencies on a routine basis. Department heads and the county executive office must approve each take-home car request.

Auditors found the district attorney allowed take-home cars for 26 employees who had not responded to any emergency calls in at least one year. The office assigned take-home cars to another 88 people who had handled fewer than a dozen emergency calls in a year's time, not enough to be considered routine, the audit said.