The civil administration of the laws of the state is vested in the Governor. For the purpose of aiding the Governor in the execution and administration of the laws, the executive and administrative work shall be divided into the following agencies: (1) Department of Agriculture; (2) Department of Labor; (3) Department of Transportation; (4) Department of Natural Resources; (5) Department of Banking and Finance; (6) Department of Insurance; (7) Department of Motor Vehicles; (8) Department of Administrative Services; (9) Department of Economic Development; (10) Department of Correctional Services; (11) Nebraska State Patrol; and (12) Department of Health and Human Services.

The Governor shall appoint heads for the various agencies listed in section 81-101, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the members elected to the Legislature. Such appointments shall be submitted to the Legislature within sixty calendar days following the first Thursday after the first Tuesday in each odd-numbered year. The officers shall be designated as follows: (1) The Director of Agriculture for the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Commissioner of Labor for the Department of Labor; (3) the Director-State Engineer for the Department of Transportation; (4) the Director of Natural Resources for the Department of Natural Resources; (5) the Director of Banking and Finance for the Department of Banking and Finance; (6) the Director of Insurance for the Department of Insurance; (7) the Director of Motor Vehicles for the Department of Motor Vehicles; (8) the Director of Administrative Services for the Department of Administrative Services; (9) the Director of Correctional Services for the Department of Correctional Services; (10) the Director of Economic Development for the Department of Economic Development; (11) the Superintendent of Law Enforcement and Public Safety for the Nebraska State Patrol; (12) the Property Tax Administrator as the chief administrative officer of the property assessment division of the Department of Revenue; and (13) the chief executive officer for the Department of Health and Human Services. Whoever shall be so nominated by the Governor and shall fail to receive the number of votes requisite for confirmation, shall not be subject to nomination or appointment for this or any other appointive state office requiring confirmation by the Legislature during the period for which his or her appointment was sought. In case of a vacancy in any of such offices during the recess of the Legislature, the Governor shall make a temporary appointment until the next meeting of the Legislature, when he or she shall nominate some person to fill such office. Any person so nominated who is confirmed by the Legislature, shall hold his or her office during the remainder of the term if a specific term has been provided by law, otherwise during the pleasure of the Governor subject to the provisions of this section; except any such officers may be removed by the Governor pursuant to Article IV of the Constitution of Nebraska.

The Governor shall have authority to establish the salaries of all persons connected with the various departments including the heads thereof.

No appropriation from any fund except the General Fund shall become available for expenditure for any expending agency until such department shall submit to the Governor estimates of the amount required for each activity to be carried on, and such estimates shall have been approved by the Governor. A statement of the estimates as allowed shall be promptly furnished the Director of Administrative Services for his guidance.

Whenever a need exists, the executive head of any agency of state government may make application to the Director of Administrative Services and the Auditor of Public Accounts to establish and maintain a petty cash fund of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than three hundred dollars at a specific location in this state. Such application shall specify the purpose for which the fund is to be used. When the Director of Administrative Services and the Auditor of Public Accounts have approved the establishment of any such fund, a voucher shall be submitted to the Department of Administrative Services accompanied by such information as the department may require for the establishment thereof. The Director of Administrative Services shall issue a warrant for the amount specified and deliver it to the establishing agency. The funds to initiate the petty cash fund shall be drawn from the appropriate fund of the agency based on the use of the petty cash fund. When it becomes necessary to replenish any such fund, the voucher therefor shall be accompanied by an accounting of transactions of the fund in such form and detail as the Department of Administrative Services may provide.

The Tax Commissioner shall annually examine and audit or supervise and direct the examination and audit of the books, accounts, vouchers, records, and expenditures of the office of Auditor of Public Accounts and report promptly to the Governor and the Clerk of the Legislature the result of such examination and audit. The report submitted to the Clerk of the Legislature shall be submitted electronically. Each member of the Legislature shall receive an electronic copy of such report by making a request for it to the Tax Commissioner.

The Governor shall, in each department, have the power to appoint such deputies, assistants, employees, and clerical help, as shall be necessary or essential to the economical, efficient and proper enforcement and administration of the laws of the state, and shall at the same time fix the salaries of such appointees and prescribe their duties. The Governor shall also have the power to discontinue the service of the head of any department or any employee when, in his judgment, the same is no longer necessary. Such an appointee may be required to serve in one or more departments and may be transferred from one department to another from time to time as an efficient and economical administration shall require. The Governor shall confer with the heads of the several departments who shall make recommendations to the Governor, from time to time, relative to appointments, services, salaries, and duties of the appointees for their respective departments. In providing for deputies, assistants, employees, or clerical help, the total expenditures for the biennium shall not exceed the appropriation made by the Legislature for such departments.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, no head of any department referred to in section 81-101 shall hold any other public office or receive any profit from any other public or private employment. For purposes of this section, employment shall not be interpreted to mean membership on the board of directors of any corporation, business, or association, whether or not the head of the department receives compensation for such membership.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting the head of one of the departments referred to in section 81-101 from serving:

(a) On any public advisory or policymaking board, commission, committee, or council; or

(b) As a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States.

Each head of a department shall serve without term.

Each head of a department, deputy, and assistant shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, subscribe and take the constitutional oath of office, which shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State.

Each head of a department shall be bonded or insured as required by section 11-201, which bond or policy shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State.

The head of each department is empowered to prescribe regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the government of his department, the conduct of its employees and clerks, the distribution and performance of its business, and the custody, use and preservation of the records, papers, books, documents and property pertaining thereto.

Each department shall be open for the transaction of business at least from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., of each day except Saturdays, Sundays, and days declared by statutory enactment or proclamation of the President or Governor to be holidays.

Each department shall adopt an official seal.

(1) No head of a department or employee therein employed at a fixed compensation shall be paid for any extra services, unless expressly authorized by law; Provided, that when any employee is required to work more than forty hours in any week he or she may, in the discretion of the department head, be granted compensatory time off at the rate of one and one-half times the hours worked in excess of forty in subsequent weeks when his or her duties will permit, or be paid a sum equivalent to one and one-half times his or her hourly pay or his or her monthly pay prorated on an hourly basis for such overtime hours.

(2) No state agency, engaged in the operation of a hospital or an establishment which is an institution primarily engaged in the care of the sick, the aged, or the mentally ill or defective who reside on the premises, shall be deemed to have violated sections 81-117 to 81-117.02 if a period of eight hours per day or eighty hours per fourteen consecutive calendar days is established for purposes of determining overtime compensation. Regular employees working on the hourly basis shall be paid wages equivalent to their regular wages for the usual number of work hours for days declared by statutory act or proclamation of the President of the United States or the Governor to be holidays; Provided, employees who have had at least one year of continuous employment with the state as hourly employees shall be guaranteed forty hours work each week.

(3) No state agency shall be deemed to have violated sections 81-117 to 81-117.02 with respect to employment in fire protection activities, law enforcement activities, including security personnel at correctional institutions, or agricultural activities, if (a) in a work period of twenty-eight consecutive days the employee receives, for four tours of duty which in the aggregate exceed two hundred hours, or (b) in the case of such employees to whom a work period of at least seven but less than twenty-eight days applies, in such work periods the employee receives, for four tours of duty which in the aggregate exceed the number of hours which bear the same ratio to the number of consecutive days of work period as two hundred hours bears to twenty-eight days, compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which the employee is paid for all hours in excess of subdivisions (a) and (b) of this subsection.

As used in section 81-117, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Employee shall mean an employee of any state agency, department, commission, board, or office, except (a) state employees who hold a publicly elected office of the State of Nebraska, (b) state employees who serve as a chief administrative officer for a state agency, department, commission, board, or office, and (c) all academic personnel of the University of Nebraska and the state colleges;

(2) Department shall mean and include any state agency, department, commission, board, or office, specifically including the University of Nebraska and the state colleges; and

(3) Overtime pay is computed on the basis of hours worked.

The payment or granting of compensatory time off in lieu of payment as prescribed in sections 81-117 to 81-117.02 shall not apply to (1) agency heads, their deputies and assistants, (2) chiefs of divisions, bureaus, or comparable organizational elements, and (3) other professional, executive, and administrative employees occupying classes of positions that by custom in business, industry, and other governmental jurisdictions are normally exempt from receiving overtime pay and may require the individual to work extra and irregular hours and that acceptance of such position constitutes the employee's acknowledgment that such requirement is a part of an obligation to the state as an employee thereof. The term deputy as used in this section shall not apply to the deputy state fire marshals or deputy state sheriffs.

The gross amount of money received by every department, from whatever source, belonging to or for the use of the state, shall be paid into the state treasury in accordance with section 84-710, without any deduction on account of salaries, fees, costs, charges, expenses, or claims of any description whatever. No money belonging to or for the use of the state shall be expended or applied by any department except in consequence of an appropriation made by law and upon the warrant of the Director of Administrative Services.

(1)(a) Any state official or state agency may accept credit cards, charge cards, or debit cards, whether presented in person or electronically, or electronic funds transfers as a method of cash payment of any tax, levy, excise, duty, custom, toll, interest, penalty, fine, license, fee, or assessment of whatever kind or nature, whether general or special, as provided by section 77-1702.

(b) A state official or state agency shall not accept a central bank digital currency as a method of cash payment of any tax, levy, excise, duty, custom, toll, interest, penalty, fine, license, fee, or assessment of whatever kind or nature.

(2) The total amount of such taxes, levies, excises, duties, customs, tolls, interest, penalties, fines, licenses, fees, or assessments of whatever kind or nature, whether general or special, paid for by credit card, charge card, debit card, or electronic funds transfer shall be collected by the state official or state agency.

(3) Any state official or state agency operating a facility in a proprietary capacity may choose to accept credit cards, charge cards, or debit cards, whether presented in person or electronically, or electronic funds transfers as a means of cash payment, and may adjust the price for services to reflect the handling and payment costs.

(4) The state official or state agency shall obtain, for each transaction, authorization for use of any credit card, charge card, or debit card used pursuant to this section from the financial institution, vending service company, credit card or charge card company, or third-party merchant bank providing such service.

(5) The types of credit cards, charge cards, or debit cards accepted and the payment services provided for any state official or state agency shall be determined by the State Treasurer and the Director of Administrative Services with the advice of the committee convened pursuant to subsection (5) of section 13-609. The State Treasurer and the director shall contract with one or more credit card, charge card, or debit card companies or third-party merchant banks for services on behalf of the state and those counties, cities, and political subdivisions that choose to participate in the state contract for such services. Any negotiated discount, processing, or transaction fee imposed by a credit card, charge card, or debit card company or third-party merchant bank shall be considered, for purposes of this section, as an administrative expense.

(6) A state official or state agency obtaining, for each transaction, authorization for use of any credit card or charge card used pursuant to this section may, but is not required to, impose a surcharge or convenience fee upon the person making a payment by credit card or charge card so as to wholly or partially offset the amount of any discount or administrative fees charged to the state agency, but the surcharge or convenience fee shall not exceed the surcharge or convenience fee imposed by the credit card or charge card companies or third-party merchant banks which have contracted under subsection (5) of this section. The surcharge or convenience fee shall be applied only when allowed by the operating rules and regulations of the credit card or charge card involved or when authorized in writing by the credit card or charge card company involved. When a person elects to make a payment to a state agency by credit card or charge card and such a surcharge or convenience fee is imposed, the payment of such surcharge or convenience fee shall be deemed voluntary by such person and shall be in no case refundable. If a payment is made electronically by credit card, charge card, debit card, or electronic funds transfer as part of a system for providing or retrieving information electronically, the state official or state agency shall be authorized but not required to impose an additional surcharge or convenience fee upon the person making a payment.

(7) For purposes of this section:

(a) Central bank digital currency means a digital medium of exchange, token, or monetary unit of account issued by the United States Federal Reserve System or any analogous federal agency that is made directly available to the consumer by such federal entities. Central bank digital currency includes a digital medium of exchange, token, or monetary unit of account so issued that is processed or validated directly by such federal entities; and

(b) Electronic funds transfer means the movement of funds by nonpaper means, usually through a payment system, including, but not limited to, an automated clearinghouse or the Federal Reserve's Fedwire system.

(1) A state purchasing card program shall be created. The State Treasurer and the Director of Administrative Services shall determine the type of purchasing card or cards utilized in the state purchasing card program. The State Treasurer shall contract with one or more financial institutions, card-issuing banks, credit card companies, charge card companies, debit card companies, or third-party merchant banks capable of operating the state purchasing card program on behalf of the state and those political subdivisions that participate in the state contract for such services. After the state purchasing card program has been in existence for two years, a joint report issued from the State Treasurer and the director shall be submitted to the Legislature and the Governor not later than January 1, 2001. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the utilization, costs, and benefits of the program. The state purchasing card program shall be administered by the Department of Administrative Services. The department may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations as needed for the implementation of the state purchasing card program. The department may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations providing authorization instructions for all transactions. Expenses associated with the state purchasing card program shall be considered, for purposes of this section, as an administrative or operational expense.

(2) Any state official, state agency, or political subdivision may utilize the state purchasing card program for the purchase of goods and services for and on behalf of the State of Nebraska.

(3) Vendors accepting the state's purchasing card shall obtain authorization for all transactions in accordance with the department's authorization instructions. Authorization shall be from the financial institution, card-issuing bank, credit card company, charge card company, debit card company, or third-party merchant bank contracted to provide such service to the State of Nebraska. Each transaction shall be authorized in accordance with the instructions provided by the department for each state official, state agency, or political subdivision.

(4) An itemized receipt for purposes of tracking expenditures shall accompany all state purchasing card purchases. In the event that an itemized receipt does not accompany such a purchase, the Department of Administrative Services shall have the authority to temporarily or permanently suspend state purchasing card purchases in accordance with rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the department.

(5) Upon the termination or suspension of employment of an individual using a state purchasing card, such individual's state purchasing card account shall be immediately closed and he or she shall return the state purchasing card to the department or agency from which it was obtained.

(6) No officer or employee of the state shall use a state purchasing card for any unauthorized use as determined by the department by rule and regulation.

Each department created by section 81-101 shall have power through its head, or any deputy, assistant, or employee, when authorized by him or her, to make a thorough investigation into all the books, papers, and affairs of any person, firm, or corporation when in the judgment of such department such examination is necessary to the proper performance of its duties and the efficient enforcement of the laws. Such department may subpoena witnesses to attend investigative hearings and have such witnesses bring with them books, accounts, and documents necessary for a thorough investigation. Such witnesses may be examined under oath. These powers shall not be used for criminal investigations.